LONDON, Ont. – Despite a double figure performance from fourth-year guard Mackenzie Puklicz, the Mustangs fell to a strong Queen's contingent by a score of 69-49 on Friday evening in Alumni Hall.

"We battled hard. They're one of the top teams in the OUA and we were short players, but at the end of the day you still have to battle," said Mustangs head coach Brian Cheng after his team's loss to a now 7-0 Gaels team. "There are lots of things we have to do to get better and to get to the level we want to play at. We just have to get back to work, that's the only answer."

After a long winter break away from regular season action, the Mustangs came out of the gate poised defensively. Puklicz led the team on the defensive end of the floor all game as she hounded the Gaels for four steals in the matchup, adding 11 points and two assists in the game, contributing on both ends of the floor.

Only one other Mustang managed to score in double figures in the game, as second-year forward Julia Curran earned herself 15 points to go along with four rebounds on the night. Meredith McLeod also had a strong game for the purple and white as she tallied eight points and three steals in the Mustangs' loss.

The first quarter saw the Mustangs pressure the Gaels with constant defence, making them fight for every basket. However, the absence of fourth-year forward Victoria Heine due to injury was soon felt as the rebounding differential grew in the Gaels' favour heading into the second quarter.

Western started the second quarter on a 9-0 run and would tie the game 21-21 midway through the frame. Despite the resolve from the purple and white, the rebounding differential would eventually catch up to Western as Queen's grew their lead to a ten-point margin to end the half.

The second half was much of the same for Western as they continued to create turnovers but were unable to score on the other end against the Gaels' phenomenal defence. Western would unfortunately add yet another injury to the season as third-year forward Alex Van Heeswyk left the game with an injury.

"We had people playing out of position and trying to do their best, so that's where we're at right now. Until we can get fresh bodies back and until we can keep getting better we're piecing it together right now," commented Cheng on the struggles of a thinned out roster. "It's just been that kind of a year for us. What we have to do as a team is accept it and work that much harder to overcome it."

With their loss to Queen's, the Mustangs will drop to 5-4 on the season and remain in third in the OUA West division behind the Laurier Golden Hawks. The Gaels' win will keep their undefeated season alive with a 7-0 record as they remain in control of the OUA East division.

The Mustangs will be back in action tomorrow as they will host the York Lions in their second meeting of the season. The game is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. and fans can follow the action live at OUA.tv.