LONDON, Ont. – Led by 17points from guard
Mackenzie Puklicz, the Western Mustangs nearly toppled the nation's seventh ranked team on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Windsor Lancers 77-71 at Alumni Hall.
With the loss, the Mustangs drop to 5-7 on the season and will remain in third place in the OUA West Division as they trail the Laurier Golden Hawks in the divisional standings. With the Lancers win, Windsor will remain in control of first place in the West with a 10-2 record.
"We demonstrated our resolve and showed what we could improve on. The bottom line is that it was a game that we had a chance to win. When the chips were down we still competed and we gave ourselves an opportunity tonight," said Mustangs' head coach Brian Cheng after his team's impressive showing against the division-leading Lancers.
Cheng also praised his team for how they have continued to battle through injuries saying, "People were playing out of position and they were uncomfortable, but when life hands you lemons, you've got to make lemonade, and I think we're starting to make lemonade. We just trusted each other and we stuck to the plan."
After scoring 16 points in the team's previous game against the Lancers on Wednesday, Puklicz continued to do it all for her team in their rematch against Windsor, adding eight rebounds and a pair of steals to go along with her 17-point performance.
Two other Mustangs managed to score in double-digits for Western as
Meredith McLeod put up 15 points while
Julia Curran chipped in ten points and nine rebounds in the loss.
Emily Prevost and Caitlyn Longmuir led the way for the Lancers, scoring 22 and 21 points respectively in the victory. Prevost also led her team's rebound efforts, with eight boards in the game.
Turnovers dug the Mustangs into a double-digit deficit early in the first quarter, but constant perimeter pressure complimented by strong interior defence by the purple and white helped trim the Windsor lead down to just eight points heading into the second frame.
The second quarter opened with Western's offence revolving around quality ball-movement resulting in open threes, as they continued to cut into the Lancer lead. The Mustangs defensive prowess fed their offence to finish the half as Western forced Windsor into 11 first-half turnovers. Extra possessions ultimately triggered fast break opportunities and an eventual 34-28 Mustang lead going into halftime.
The second half opened with the Lancers defence leaving Western's shooters open for long-range opportunities and the Mustangs made sure to capitalize on their open chances. Western's bench, highlighted by first-year guard
Jade Codinera, sparked an impressive run where the Mustangs grew their lead to nine points, their largest advantage of the night. However, a Lancers' scoring display featuring a pair of threes from Caitlyn Longmuir, would shave the Mustang advantage to just two points late in the third quarter.
Neither team found a way to build a decisive lead throughout the final frame until Windsor's aggressiveness rewarded them with five free throw attempts in the final two minutes to give the Lancers the six-point victory.
"They were bigger and stronger than us, and we battled them. We didn't cower to the challenge, we rose to it," commented Cheng, noting the difficulties of playing undersized against the Lancer's forwards. "They were just a little better than us today. They're special for a reason. But just a few possessions, that's all it really came down to. Just a few more possessions, and we could be having a different conversation right now."
The Mustangs will be back in action on Friday, January 27 as they will host the University of Ottawa Gee Gees in Alumni Hall for their first meeting of the season. The game is scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. and fans can catch the action live at OUA.tv.
