LONDON, Ont. – Twenty-three points from Danielle Bolago helped power the McMaster Maruaders to a 92-40 win over the Western Mustangs on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall.
With the loss, the Mustangs will finish the regular season with an 8-12 record, good for third in the OUA West Division. Entering the day Western occupied the 11th playoff seed, with the final playoff positions set to be determined later this evening. The Marauders' win will push their record to 17-2 to end the year as they sit alone atop the OUA Central and will be given a bye through the first round of playoff action as they entered today ranked third on the RPI.
"Give them credit, they've got a lot of good players and they've got a lot of senior players. They came out as a primer to the playoffs," said Mustangs head coach
Brian Cheng, commenting on the Marauders impressive showing. "There's not too much to be learned or gathered from this one. We just have to move on because we're on to the second season."
The afternoon game marked Western's Senior Day, where fifth-year guard
Meredith McLeod was honoured for her many years of service to the Western women's basketball program. Her talent and leadership has been a consistent asset for the team throughout her tenure and will continue to be so in the Mustangs' upcoming postseason appearance.
"I was excited and anxious at the same time. I wanted to have a good game today, but also wanted to just enjoy it. Playing on this floor is something that I'll never forget. It was one of the best feelings in the world, being able to wear this jersey," said McLeod on playing in her final game in Alumni Hall. "It was emotional. Brian brought me to this school and helped me throughout all five years, consistently, everyday. It's hard to think that I have to say goodbye to it in a couple weeks but I'm just making the best of it."
"Meredith has so much spirit and so much heart" said Cheng on McLeod's career as a Mustang. "When she bleeds that, its contagious to the entire team. Hopefully the legacy she leaves is that she always left it all on the court. She did that for us for all five years."
The Mustangs got the opening quarter off to a quick start with an early three-pointer from McLeod and the scoring ability of Heine, who held a decisive size advantage over the Marauder starting lineup. Despite the slow start for McMaster, the offence would utilize their speed to run the fast break to perfection and get themselves back into the game.
McMaster's Vanessa Pickard got going late in the opening frame to give the Marauders a 22-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Mac's drive-and-kick fast break offence would continue to wear down the Western defence throughout the second quarter.
On the other end of the floor, the Mustangs struggled to break through the full-court press put on by the Marauders, contributing to their 19 first half turnovers. The stifling defence and fast-paced offence would leave McMaster with a 40-28 lead heading into the second half.
The Marauders continued their barrage in the third frame, as they extended their lead through crashing the offensive glass, allowing extra possessions and limiting the Mustangs' scoring opportunities. Western focused well on defending the three-point line in the third quarter, holding McMaster, one of the OUA's most potent long-range teams, to just 3-15 shooting from beyond the arc. Despite the discipline on the perimeter, the Marauders were able to extend their advantage to a 63-32 margin heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter was much of the same for the purple and white, as McMaster's Pickard continued to rack up points, on her way to 15 on the day, topped only by Boiago. Despite the point differential, Western refused to relent and fought until the final buzzer. However, the ball-movement and consistency from McMaster ultimately proved to be too much for Western as they fell 92-40.
"If we take care of the ball more and force more opposing turnovers rather than turning it over ourselves, I think we can compete with anyone," said McLeod, noting her team's playoff potential. "Today, it just wasn't our game. That's okay, we have those games. Next week we'll just come out hard like we did last year."
"If you're playing ranked teams, that's how good they are. We're a program that's striving to become one of those teams. We just have to take care of the ball and when we score, we can't hang our heads," commented Cheng on what adjustments his team has to make heading into the postseason.
The Mustangs will be back in action this Wednesday, February 22 as they will compete in the OUA Preliminary Round. Western's opponent will be determined after the completion of all OUA regular season games.
