LONDON, Ont. - Fifth-year guard Mackenzie Puklicz scored a game-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds to help lead the Western Mustangs women's basketball team to a 66-55 victory over the Ryerson Rams on Saturday evening in Alumni Hall.

"We came into tonight with a great deal of respect for Ryerson and a great deal of focus. We executed the game plan as close to perfection as possible," said Mustangs' head coach Brian Cheng. "Seeing the offence work and seeing the ball go through the net got contagious. That's what Western basketball is all about: player movement, ball movement split second decisions."

"It was a good win for us. We came out strong right off the bat and I think we continued with that momentum for all four quarters. Our defence was incredible the entire game and I think that's what ended up winning it for us," said third-year guard Maddy Horst. "We shot well and when you have a good offence plus a strong defence, you're going to win games."

Two others Mustangs scored in double-figures for the purple and white, as Victoria Heine put up 15 points and five rebounds on the night while Julia Curran chipped in 14 points and five rebounds of her own in the win.

"That's what a fifth year does. She plays on both ends of the floor, knows what assignment is, she had help from her teammates, and got it done. Victoria can do that all year long, but give her credit today; she was really on it," said Cheng on the effort of Heine on both ends of the floor.

The Mustangs showed no signs of fatigue from their previous matchup against the Varsity Blues just one night before, as the defence fueled the offence for the purple and white, creating turnovers and sparking the fast break. The Western defence particularly pressured Ryerson's star-forward Sofia Paska, double-teaming her on nearly every post-up. However, the Rams' offence would find its footing through other scoring-options, but the rebounding-effort of first-year Debora Kamba would help lift the Mustangs to a slim 15-14 lead heading into the second quarter.

The interior defence continued to lock down opposing scorers through the second quarter while continuing their own rhythm on the offensive end, running the half-court offence to near perfection through the second quarter, as the Mustangs went into halftime with a 31-24 lead behind 13 first-half points from Victoria Heine.

Turnovers began to add up quickly for the purple and white, as Ryerson's defensive pressure led to open opportunities on the other end of the floor. However, Puklicz would keep her head in the game with a quick seven points to retain the lead. Both teams would struggle to break through the opposing defence for the remainder of the frame, as the Mustangs went into the fourth with a narrow 44-43 advantage.

Neither side would be able to get stops early in the quarter, as Horst led the way for the Mustangs' early in the frame, controlling the flow of the offence for the purple and white. The game remained in question until the final minute of play, where Curran would seal the game with a pair of clutch free throws to give the purple and white the eventual 66-55 victory.

"The difference today was that we just played to our own speed. Yesterday we played more to Toronto's pace, but I think we regrouped today, came back to how we play Western basketball and that's what Western basketball is all about," said Horst.

With the win, the Mustangs will improve to 3-1 on the season, as they move into second in the OUA West division. The Rams' loss will drop them to 1-2 on the season, as they remain in sixth place in the OUA East division.

The Mustangs will be back in action this Friday, November 10 as they will host the Windsor Lancers to end their three-game home stand. The game is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. and fans can catch the action live at OUA.tv.