LONDON, Ont. – A game-high 26 points from Cheyanne Roger helped the Windsor Lancers overcome the Western Mustangs by a 76-64 score on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall.
"I was a little disappointed on how we attacked," said Western head coach
Brian Cheng. "We had prepared all week long and we didn't attack them the way we would like to attack them."
Both the Mustangs and Lancers now hold 13-5 records and share the top spot in the OUA West standings heading into the final week of the regular season.
Saturday's game was easily one of the most physical of the season, with a total of 44 fouls being handed out between the two teams. The Mustangs tallied 21 fouls, compared to 23 for Windsor. Every Lancer who saw the court was whistled for at least one infraction, and in fact only Western's
Meredith McLeod ended the game free of any fouls.
"They're a physical team," said Cheng regarding the aggressive play on Saturday. "Both teams were defending well with lots of energy."
Mackenzie Puklicz, who had only one foul against her in the match, led the Mustangs on the scoreboard with 23 points.
Maddy Horst, who went four for four at the foul line, was the only other Mustang to earn double-digits, contributing 17 to Western's score.
Two Lancers managed to crack twenty points and earn double-doubles. Roger added 10 rebounds to go along with her 26 points, while Emily Prevost scored 20 points and grabbed 11 off the glass. Carly Steer just missed out on the double-double, registering 12 points and eight rebounds.
It was aggressive and intense right from the tip-off on Saturday, with four fouls being handed out in the first two minutes alone. That two minutes set the tone for the quarter, as nine personal fouls were handed to the Mustangs and seven to Windsor. Neither team was able to make much progress on the scoreboard, and the quarter ended 11-10 in favour of Windsor, with the majority of those points coming from shots at the free throw line.
Moving into the second quarter, the intensity—which was partially fueled by the vocal crowd—never died down. Strong defence on both ends caused the shot clock to near zero numerous times, resulting in many unsuccessful shots that were taken to beat the buzzer. Many of those shots included missed threes, but successful three-pointers by McLeod and Horst at the end of the half helped to keep the score close, and the half ended with Windsor up 35-32.
The Mustangs burst into the second half, taking the lead from the Lancers in the first minute, after which the two sides traded points. A far three-pointer by Puklicz, layups by Horst and McLeod off passes from the defensive half, and numerous spins by Wolynski, are just some of the tricks Western pulled in the quarter, but it wasn't enough to keep the Lancers down as they took a 53-47 lead into the fourth.
The final ten minutes saw the Lancers further separate themselves from the Mustangs. Their skillful and aggressive rebounding, which allowed them to grab 11 rebounds compared to Western's four in the final frame, played a key role in increasing the Windsor lead. At the final buzzer the Lancers walked away with a 76-64 win.
Western has just one more weekend of regular season games before heading to the playoffs. The first of the two matches will be on Friday, February 26 when the Mustangs take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves at Alumni Hall at 6 p.m. Fans can watch the game live on OUA.tv
