LONDON, Ont. – The women's basketball team defeated the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks 79-53 at home court on Saturday evening. The game will bring the Mustangs to a regular season record of 7-1 and the Ridgebacks down to 0-7 in their first season as a rostered varsity team.
 
Elizabeth LeBlanc kick-started the Mustangs' momentum after putting their first points on the board three minutes in. The charge down the court led to an easy layup that was met with minimal resistance. From there, the 'Stangs found their bearings. LeBlanc made it to the basket twice more, joined by Fradgley, Fischer, Cloutier, and Bastedo to bring the Purple and White up to 16. While Ontario Tech held fast to the ball when in possession, they struggled to hit the basket. The 4 points Alexanne L'Heureux and Dalyssa Fleurgin put up were solely from free-throws as the first quarter closed 16-4.
 
Ridgeback Jolesha Allen-Brown promised for a more exciting end of the half after opening up the second quarter with back-to-back three-pointers. Likewise, Julia Curran of the Purple and White stormed in and put 7 points on the board in less than four minutes. The Ridgebacks gained a little more confidence as Alyssa Carin and Katherine Onunkwo carried them to 23 points – a score not too far off Western's 35 – as the first half came to an end.
 
The margin persisted to hover around ten points well into the third quarter. An impressive passing sequence from LeBlanc to Saumure and back to LeBlanc led to an uncontested 2 points for the 'Stangs. Allen-Brown and Onunkwo continued to lead the Tech in points but they struggled to compete with the Purple and White's impressive list of point-scorers as Rachel Fradgley, Melanie Cloutier, and Emma Johnson all made recurring appearances.
 
With three minutes remaining in the match and down by 20, the Ridgebacks maintained their intensity. The Mustangs saw several free-throw opportunities, Horst, Johnson, and Bastedo all putting them to good use. In spite of the gap having widened to upwards of 20 points, the Mustangs still had to defend their inevitable win as the Ridgebacks went down swinging.
 
When asked about the inescapable pressure the girls seemed to be feeling from the Ridgebacks, Head Coach Nate McKibbon responded, "Ontario Tech is a team that hasn't won yet but they're incredibly dangerous and they work incredibly hard and are very well-coached by Christa Eniojukan… There were definitely some moments where we had to be better, especially on the defensive end." In terms of what the girls did right and what they're seeking to change, McKibbon added, "I thought they responded really well coming out of time-outs and breaks once we were able to adjust things… It took us a little bit of time and forced us to call some timeouts… We just need to be able to respond on the court and come together."
 
The Western Mustangs will be returning to the court on Wednesday, November 20^th at the University of Waterloo for the ninth game of their regular season. The game is scheduled to begin at 11:00 A.M. EST.