LONDON, Ont. – Western's tough defense made it extremely difficult for the Laurentian Voyageurs to get much action on the scoreboard Saturday night, as the Mustangs charged to a 63-48 victory at Alumni Hall.
"That's the first time we've held a team below 50 in a long time," said Western head coach
Brian Cheng. "We were kind of almost taking [our success] for granted, and I think that showed last night, and it was a great response to what happened last night."
The victory is Western's ninth win in a row. The team has a 12-3 record and a total of 24 points, currently the highest amount in the OUA.The Voyageurs aren't seeing as much success, and with a record of 3-11, they have a total of six points.
The differences in the teams' records were paralleled in the team's scores on Saturday. In the first quarter, the Mustangs scored 18 points from four different players—
Caroline Wolynski,
Mackenzie Puklicz,
Victoria Heine, and
Meredith McLeod. Meanwhile, the Voyageurs scored just four, all by L'Ashante Henry.
Maddy Horst may not have scored in the first frame, but her strong second, third, and fourth quarters allowed her to be the top scorer of the night with 15 points. Wolynski followed with 11, then Puklicz with 10.
On the Voyageur end, Henry led the team with a total of 12 points, four coming from her four free throw shots, which she went 100% for. Adrienne Moreau was the only other Laurentian player to earn double digits, with 11.
Despite the outcome, the match was tight at the start, with the first points coming from foul shots by Henry nearly two minutes in. Puklicz evened the score shortly after, and the Mustangs never turned back.
With six points, two rebounds, and two steals, Heine reminded Western fans what they were missing when she sat out yesterday due to injury. The Mustangs executed tough defense throughout the first ten minutes and the quarter ended 18-4 in favour of the home team.
Behind by 14 points, the Laurentian Voyageurs sought redemption in the second frame. They came close to matching the Mustangs' baskets, achieving 23 points in the frame compared to Western's 25. To counter the Voyageur intensity, Wolynski ran set plays, beat opponents one-on-one, and led the scoring in the half with 11 points, proving why the Mustangs call her captain.
At the end of the quarter, a foul at the buzzer against Horst granted Voyageur Tinnes three free throws, each of which she made to end the half 43-27 for Western.
"You can't hold a team down forever, it's almost inhuman," says Cheng of the close quarter.
Following the halftime break, second-year Horst and first-year
Laura Graham shone, each scoring a three-pointer and contributing five of the Mustangs' 16 points in the quarter. Puklicz's notorious hustle led to three big steals and the score was 59-37 heading into the final frame.
With their last chance of getting back in the game, the Voyageurs came in hot in the final ten minutes. With numerous Mustangs, both starters and non-starters, seeing the court, the Voyageurs were able to out-shoot the home team in field goal attempts, 22 to 14.
Those shots resulted in Laurentian outscoring the purple and white 11 points to a mere four (by Horst and
Sam Loucks), but ultimately, the early lead allowed the Mustangs to take home the win, 63-48.
Up next, the Mustangs will attempt to get their winning streak to double digits when they face the tough Queen's Gaels in Kingston on Friday, February 12.
"Queen's is gonna be a tough one," says Wolynski. "But hopefully we can scout them and prepare for them and pull something out of the bag that maybe they haven't seen before."
