Box Score LONDON, Ont. - Second-year forward Debora Kamba scored 12 points to help lead the Western women's basketball team in their 77-42 loss to the York Lions on Saturday evening in Alumni Hall.

With the loss, the Mustangs drop to a 1-3 record on the season and move into sixth place in the OUA West division standings. The Lions' win improves their record to 1-2 on the year, as they move into seventh in the OUA East.

"I think the game plan coming into tonight, with so many players out with injury, was to compete and see some development in our younger players," said Mustangs head coach Brian Cheng. "We're not quite where we need to be yet because we have so many young players that need more time to grow and understand the game, so we just told them that we wanted today to be the first day where they look at their future selves. It was a game about growth and I think we saw some tonight."

"We try to focus on our defence more than our offence in games like these because we're such a young team, so it's easier to translate to a new group," said Kamba. "It's difficult to find consistency with the lineup changing so much because our injured players are also our leading scorers. Depending on such young players can be a challenge just due to lack of experience, but it's a good opportunity for them to learn."

Kamba also chipped in eight rebounds in the loss, while Laura Graham totaled a team-high 14 points to go along with three rebounds on the evening.

"I have a lot of praise and compliments and respect towards Debora and the versatility she brings to our team," said Cheng. "She has the innate ability to play multiple positions on both ends of the floor, she gets her hands in passing lands, and is just a threat all over the floor defensively. We're very lucky to have her."

The Lions were led by Laura Golding who scored 11 points and secured nine rebounds to help lead the team to victory.

Following an injury to Julia Curran the game prior, the Mustangs found themselves shorthanded due to injuries once again against the Lions. The shortened lineup in the second game of a back-to-back seemed to affect the Mustangs' fatigue early in the opening quarter, as the Lions dominated the offensive glass and seemed to wear down Western with a full-court press. York's persistent defence held Western's scoring at bay for the entire frame as the Mustangs went into the second facing a 12-7 deficit.

However, the offensive leadership of Graham quickly emerged in the second quarter, sparking a run through the half court setting and earning their way back into the game. But despite Graham's efforts, a string of fast-break threes picked apart Western's zone defence to end the frame as the Mustangs went into the half trailing 26-18.

The shooting struggles of the purple and white continued into the third quarter, as fatigue left the Mustangs' jump shots short. The individual play of Graham along with the contributions of Kamba helped keep the Mustangs afloat midway through the frame, but a shooting barrage from York to end the quarter left Western down 41-29 heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter was much of the same for the purple and white, as the Lions continued to knock down shots from beyond the arc to extend their lead and keep the game out reach, ultimately cruising to the 77-42 victory.

"There were a lot of bright spots leaving tonight," said Cheng. "Wins can be false-positives sometimes and I think that there's a lot to take away from our losses. We saw a lot from our future players and understand how to use some of those players moving forward. Now, we'll have maybe our toughest tests of the season against Carleton and Ottawa next week."

The Mustangs will be back in action this Friday, November 9, where they will host the Carleton Ravens in their first meeting of the season. The game is scheduled to tip off at 6:00 P.M. EST and fans can catch the action live on OUA.tv.