LONDON, Ont. - Mackenzie Puklicz saved the best of her 21-points for last, as she connected on shot with only seconds left on the clock in overtime to give the Western Mustangs a 60-59 win on Friday night at Alumni Hall.

"It's wonderful to see her come from her first year to come into fruition in her fifth year and be a leader. She took the team on her back, so I'm very proud of both Mackenzie and the team's performance," said Mustangs head coach Brian Cheng. "She's always been clutch and she feels a responsibility to put the team on her shoulders and carry them. To her credit, more times than not she's done that for us."
 
"I think we let up on our defence a bit at the end of the game, but we stuck together throughout and that was the difference," said Puklicz, commenting on the team chemistry throughout the game.

One other Mustang scored in double-figures for the purple and white, as second-year forward Julia Curran chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds in the victory. Victoria Heine always made her presence known with eight points and 13 rebounds on the night.

"You have to give Michèle credit. She will be a Hall of Fame coach and I have the utmost respect for her and her teams. She always gets them playing hard and she always gives them a chance to compete," said Cheng on Toronto head coach Michèle Bélanger. "She sets up a very good game plan and we always look forward to what she has in store for us because there's always lots to prepare for."

The Mustangs came out of the gate fired up in their home-opener against the Varsity Blues, pushing the fast break to get out to a quick 13-2 lead midway through the first quarter. Strong play by rookie guard Debora Kamba would continue to lift the Mustangs on offence, as Western held the 17-10 advantage after the first frame.

The Varsity Blues would quickly find their footing in the second quarter, locking down on the perimeter and forcing Western into turnovers and starting the half on an 8-0 run. Western would continue to outrun Toronto on the fast break for, but Toronto would remain persistent on defence, converting on Western's 11 first-half turnovers, as the Mustangs went into the second half with a slim 25-23 lead.

Turnovers continued to haunt the Mustangs in the second half, while the half-court offence of the Varsity Blues began to catch fire behind the sharpshooting of Keyira Parkes. Parkes would lead Toronto to a 21-12 advantage through the third quarter with 13 points of her own in the frame, giving the Varsity Blues the 44-37 advantage heading into the fourth.

Western's fast break offence was revived in the fourth quarter behind the play of rookie guard Emma Johnson, who helped facilitate the offence for the purple and white, leading to an 8-2 run to start the frame. Strong execution by both offences towards the end of the fourth would ultimately deadlock the game at 49-49 to end the fourth quarter, forcing an overtime.

Both sides would continue to trade baskets throughout the overtime period, as fatigue took hold of both teams on defence. The sharpshooting of Parkes would exploit the Mustangs once again in overtime, hitting a three to give the Varsity Blues the advantage, but a clutch layup from Puklicz would give the Mustangs the 60-59 victory in an overtime thriller.
"It was a little stressful and a little anxious, but if you don't like that then you're in the wrong business," said Cheng, recognizing the closeness of the contest. "It was really fun to watch our players continue to grow."

With the win, the Mustangs will improve to 2-1 on the season, as they currently sit in second in the OUA West division early in the year. The Varsity Blues' loss will move them to 1-1 on the season, as they look to bounce back in their upcoming game against the Windsor Lancers.

The Mustangs will be back in action tomorrow, Saturday, November 4, as they will take on the Ryerson Rams in their first meeting of the season. The game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and fans can catch the action live at OUA.tv.