KINGSTON, Ont. – A fourth-quarter push wasn't enough to give the Mustangs the win on Friday night, as Queen's held on for a 69-64 victory at the ARC Gym.
 
The narrow loss is the Mustangs' first since November, and it marks the end of their epic nine game winning streak. Western now has a 12-4 win-loss record and shares top spot in the OUA West with the Windsor Lancers, who beat the York Lions on Friday night.
 
Like the Mustangs, the Queen's Gaels have 24 points, but they managed to earn that total in 15 games compared to Western's 16. They are now 12-3 on the season and sit ahead of the Ryerson Rams, who have 22 points, in the OUA East standings.  
 
Twenty-five seconds in, Western's Victoria Heine scored the first basket of the night. However, as the frame continued, the Gaels made it tougher for the Mustangs to score much more. The home team took control, and with seven different Gaels contributing to the scoreboard the quarter ended with a big 26-9 lead for Queen's.
 
As the game progressed, however, the Mustangs caught up to the Queen's score. Leading that catch up was Mackenzie Puklicz, who scored 17 points, which included seven of eight attempted free throws. Maddy Horst and Caroline Wolynski were both just one point behind Puklicz, both contributing 16 points for the purple and white.
 
Leading Queen's was third year Vancouver native Abby Dixon, who earned a total of 17 points. She was followed by Robyn Pearson, who, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, was the only player on the court to earn a double-double. Marianna Alarie was the only other person to score double digit points, earning 10 for the home team.
 
The Gaels early lead can be attributed to their strong rebounding, as Queen's grabbed 15 compared to Western's 5, as well as to Western's low shooting accuracy, which was a mere 14.3% compared to Queen's 60%. With a chip on their shoulders, the Mustangs were a whole new team in the second quarter and the remainder of the game.
 
The second frame saw the Mustangs beating the Gaels defensively and offensively. The combination of Western out-rebounding Queen's and increasing their shooting accuracy to 63.6% caused the Gaels' lead to shrink to ten points, and the score was 39-29 heading into halftime.
 
The third quarter was another opportunity for the Mustangs to catch up to the Gaels. They earned a solid 20 points in the frame, 10 of which came from Puklicz. However, the Gaels prevented the Mustangs from making much progress, scoring 19 points of their own. The score was 58-49 heading into the final ten minutes.
 
The final quarter proved to be the most exciting. From the first inbound, the Mustangs were determined to catchup to Queen's. The scoring kept coming from the purple and white and four minutes in Laura Graham's free throws would put the Mustangs in the lead for the first time. The game now belonged to anybody.
 
But after five minutes of hustle and both teams fighting for points, the Queen's Gaels were ultimately able to sink more shots. At the buzzer, the score was 69-64 Queen's.
 
The Mustangs will try to get back on the winning train tomorrow, Saturday, February 13, when they face the York Lions at 6 p.m. in Toronto. Catch the live action on OUA.tv.