The Mustangs will be back on the road for the first time since late November as they prepare to travel to Sault Ste. Marie for a pair of matchups against the Algoma Thunderbirds. Western will be heading into the weekend following pair of games against the Guelph Gryphons and McMaster Marauders this past week in Alumni Hall.

Western hosted the Gryphons on Wednesday evening in a high-stakes matchup, as Western separated themselves from Guelph in the OUA West divisional standings with the six-point victory.

Both teams came out of the gate hot in the first quarter, but strong second and third quarters would give Guelph the lead heading into the fourth.

However, a 19-9 run in the final frame would give the Mustangs the eventual 64-58 victory.

Western entered their game with McMaster with momentum, but facing a surging Marauder team would prove to be a challenge for the purple and white.

The Mustangs stayed in the game and looked as though they were on the verge on an upset until the Marauders found their footing from beyond the arc late in the fourth to give McMaster the eventual 83-80 win.

Western at Algoma – Friday, January 26 at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, January 27 at 6:00 p.m. - Watch live on OUA.tv

Western will be travelling to Algoma for the first meeting with the Thunderbirds since their previous weekend series from February of last season.

The Mustangs split the two games against the Thunderbirds, initially falling in a 51-43 defeat before bouncing back with an enormous 74-51 win the following night on the road.

Julia Curran led the way for the purple and white in the first game, putting up a game-high 16 points, but a six-point second quarter for the Mustangs would be too much to come back from, losing by an eventual eight points.

The following night was a different story for the purple and white, as the team shot an incredible 59% from beyond the arc while three Mustangs put up double-figures in the win.

Despite stealing a game from purple and white last season, this year has been a struggle in terms of wins for the Thunderbirds, as they hold a 2-14 record and sit just one spot ahead of the 1-15 Waterloo Warriors for eighth place in the OUA West division.

The Thunderbirds' previous win over the purple and white was largely due to the Mustangs shooting an abysmal 2-28 from downtown in the game, but following a strong shooting night against a competitive Marauder defence this past weekend, Western will look to have a repeat performance against a struggling Algoma defence.

On the other side of the ball, Algoma remains one of only three teams in the country to average less than 50 points per game, averaging 49.3 points per contest on 28.9 percent shooting. The Thunderbirds' shooting struggles will be a welcome sight to a Western team which has typically been unable to find wins against high-scoring teams.

The Thunderbirds will be led by Karina Cole, who is currently the only Algoma player to average double-digit points with 11.2 points per game.

Cole has done it all for the Thunderbirds this season, leading the team in rebounds and assists as well, averaging 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, respectively. Stopping Cole will be key for the purple and white if they hope to control the Thunderbirds from gaining the same momentum which McMaster found this past weekend.