WATERLOO, Ont. – Mackenzie Puklicz's three-pointer at the buzzer sealed both the game and a playoff spot for the Western Mustangs women's basketball team, as they beat the Waterloo Warriors 75-72 at the PAC Complex Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Mustangs finish the OUA regular season at 7-13 on the season good for the third spot in the West division. The Warriors' loss has them finishing at 5-15 on the season and in fourth place in the same group.

Coming into the game, only a Waterloo victory by more than 10 points could have shut the Mustangs out of the preliminary round of the OUA Playoffs. And the Warriors tried their best to make that happen, by staging a fourth quarter comeback that saw them outscore the Mustangs 26-20. Luckily for Western, the large gap they created early in the game would help them hold on.

Puklicz secured a double double in the game, leading scorers with 24 points while adding on 10 rebounds. Caroline Wolynski followed with 20 points and six rebounds, and Maddy Horst kept pace with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Ball movement was in the Mustangs repertoire right from the start when Puklicz found Meredith McLeod on the outside for a good three in the first minutes of the game. The team would go on to run up six assists in the first quarter alone while playing an effective zone coverage to keep the Warriors at bay. But the home team figured it out soon enough with Amy Jarvis and Emily Wilk putting up back to back jumpers to eat away at the Mustang lead. Horst's deep shot at the end of the quarter,though, would give the Mustangs a 19-13 lead and a bit of breathing room.

The Mustangs went right to work in the second quarter when Puklicz picked up Marti Killeen's bad jumper and helped herself to an easy bucket in the first minute. On a play soon after, she kicked the ball out to Sam Loucks who saw Horst making a run up the middle to the basket. Loucks' pass and Horst's subsequent layup were good, and another example of the Mustangs ability to work together to make up plays. Though Waterloo started putting pressure on as the half came to a close, the Mustangs would go into the break with a 42-29 lead.

That defensive pressure from the Warriors came back even stronger in the third quarter, though, as they limited the Mustangs to just 13 points. On top of the defense, Waterloo put together a 10-2 run in the last three minutes of the frame, though still trailed by nine at 55-46.

Trouble started brewing in the fourth for the Mustangs when Waterloo grabbed the first four points of the set to take them within five. But Wolynski and Horst would keep up, as they responded to each Warrior basket behind the support of a raucous Western fanbase visiting in the stands. After a few missed responses, Victoria Heine fouled Madison Behr with four minutes left to play for her fifth personal. As Heine exited the game, Behr made both her free throw shots to tie things up at 61 each.

Wolynski and Horst made a couple of jump shots to keep pace, but the Warriors did not give up. They went on a two minute 10-1 run to take a 71-66 lead with just over a minute left in the game. The Mustangs were just five points away from seeing their playoff hopes dashed. That's when Puklicz stepped up with a jumper to cut back into the lead. With 43 seconds left to play, Waterloo could only hope to run up their fouls on the Mustangs to walk away winners.

Running into bonus territory, Puklicz was fouled and drained two from the line to cut Waterloo's lead to two. Laura Burnett tried to respond with a three, but missed the shot. Grabbing the rebound, Horst started making her way down the court when she was fouled. She made both of her free shots to tie the game up at 72 a piece with 17 seconds on the clock.

With just 10 second remaining, Killeen ran the ball down the court for the Warriors, stepped back and put up a rushed three-point attempt that went short of the basket and bounced out of bounds. It was Western ball with four seconds left in the game.
A Mustang time out brought the ball down to their offensive zone. Puklicz was given the inbound and set herself up outside the three-point line in the corner. When the last second wiped away from the clock, she threw up a shot, the ball just leaving her fingertips as the buzzer sounded. The ball would go down smoothly through the net as she threw her arms in the air, leaving herself open to be swarmed by her teammates. Her three-pointer led to a 75-72 Mustangs victory, and closed out the regular season in dramatic fashion.

The win secures a spot in the postseason for the Mustangs as they finish in the top three of the West division. Regardless of division poisition, the post-season match-ups will be determined based on the RPI (Rating Percentage Index) of the 12 qualifying teams to determine the playoff bracket. Though not yet named, the Mustangs will visit their opponent in the OUA Preliminary Round on Wednesday, February 25. The match-up will be streamed live on OUA.tv.