LONDON, Ont. – Fifth-year guard Mackenzie Puklicz put up a season-high 30 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists as she led Western to a 78-74 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Friday afternoon at Alumni Hall.

Friday's contest tipped off at 11 a.m. as it was a school day game, with more than a thousand young students from London schools filling Alumni Hall to the rafters and making plenty of noise throughout the day.

"I've never seen Alumni Hall like that, it was really exciting. They were cheering the entire time and they were so much fun to have there," said Puklicz, noting the energy of the young fan base. "My time here is running low, but I'd love to see this kind of crowd here for the rest of the girls in the next couple years."

"The crowd was great for us. It gave us an atmosphere that we deserve to play in front of every game. It was a great initiative by Western and the Thames Valley District School board and we're so grateful for the experience," said Mustangs' head coach Brian Cheng on the impact of the fans.

One other Mustang scored in double-figures for the purple and white in the win, as third-year forward Julia Curran put up 26 points to go along with 17 rebounds in a huge double-double performance. Western guard Maddy Horst helped facilitate the offence for Western, as she racked up eight assists on the day.

"Julia does so many things for us. Whatever amount of points we get out of here we're happy with; she checks a lot of boxes off. She's capable of these kinds of numbers, she just needs to realize this is within her potential," said Cheng on Curran's double-double.

Forward L'Ashante Henry led the way for the Voyageurs, scoring a team-high 19 points to go along with six rebounds in the loss to the Mustangs.

The Mustangs were clearly playing off the energy of the crowd to start the first quarter, as Curran led the way through the opening minutes, sparking the early offence for the purple and white. However, the Laurentian defence would soon find its footing, as Western's early scoring-surge was quickly hampered by the Voyageurs.

Curran continued to be the catalyst behind the Western offence throughout the frame, pouring in ten points in the quarter and creating extra possessions through offensive rebounds. However, Laurentian would go on a run of their own to end the quarter, as a buzzer-beating layup would earn the Voyageurs a 18-16 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Voyageurs moved to a zone defence to begin the second frame, hoping to slow down the Mustangs' inside presence, but Curran continued to prove her dominance on the interior, scoring with ease and retaking a slim lead for purple and white. Laurentian's zone began to be picked apart by the Western offence midway through the frame, as perimeter ball movement led to open shots from beyond the arc.

The swift ball movement quickly lead to the Voyageurs abandoning the zone in favour of the man-to-man defence which earned them their initial lead. Puklicz, a primary scoring threat for the Mustangs, found her rhythm late in the second frame, knocking down jump shots and spreading the Voyageurs' defence thin. However, foul trouble for the purple and white would keep the Mustangs from pulling away, as they entered the half with a 42-33 lead.

Puklicz picked up right where she left off to start the third quarter, extending the lead to double-digits thanks to some stellar shooting. The Mustang offence continued to flow through the veteran leadership and ball movement from Maddy Horst, but porous defence on the perimeter allowed Voyageur shooters to cut into the Western lead.

Turnovers coupled with continued foul trouble haunted the Mustangs late in the quarter, as they watched their lead quickly dissipate heading towards the fourth. Despite their strong play to begin the quarter, Western headed into the final quarter of play with a slim 56-54 advantage.  

Both teams traded baskets in a back-and-forth affair to begin the quarter, as Puklicz continued to lead the purple and white throughout the second half. Turnovers piled up quickly for the purple and white thanks to Laurentian's half-court trap, allowing the Voyageurs to convert on fast-break chances.

However, a pair of clutch three-point shots from Puklicz late in the fourth would swing the momentum back in favour of the home side. Key free throws from Victoria Heine would be enough to ice the game for the Mustangs, as Western walked away with a 78-74 win.

With the win, the Mustangs will improve to 5-5 on the season, as they remain in sixth place in a tightly-contested OUA West division. The Voyageurs loss will move them to 2-6 on the season, as they hope to move up from the bottom of the OUA East standings.

"We wanted to protect home court, especially with that crowd, and we definitely did that today," said Curran. "We fought this one out, so we have a lot of momentum going into tomorrow's game and hopefully that'll give us the energy to pull it out."

The Mustangs will be back in action tomorrow, December 2, where they will host the 2-5 Nipissing Lakers in their first meeting of the season. The game is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. and fans can catch the action live on OUA.tv and Radio Western 94.9 FM.