London,ON – The Mustangs returned to Alumni Hall Friday night and made an early impact that stretched most of the night in a 86-34 win over Algoma.

The first quarter saw the Mustangs jump out to a huge lead. Ariane Saumure had 13 points alone in the quarter and Western was up 31-6.

"Before the game, our coach (Nate MicKibbon) said that it had been 619 days since we've played in front of fans so it felt great," said Saumure "A key to the game tonight was to put pressure on their guards and that's what we tried to do and the momentum started really good right off the bat."

The 2^nd quarter was much of the same with the Mustangs driving the pace and again outscoring Algoma 18-8. Western was noticeably involving a number of players, not just the starting five.

"I think we're going to go deeper on the bench all year and rotation is going to change day to day," said Mustangs Head Coach Nate McKibbon "I'm not necessarily sure who our best five (players) are going to be on any given day, the lineup is going to change on any given day and it was nice to give people opportunities to show what they're capable of."

Western shot 42.2% on field goals and 30.4% on 3pt shots. Saumure finished the game with 23 points on the night.

"She had a real good week of practice," said McKibbon of Saumure "I think she had a couple rough games in the preseason so it was nice to see her come out and get a couple early and get rolling and I thought it got her teammates rolling too."

Western and Algoma will be right back on the court at Alumni Hall tomorrow afternoon to complete the back to back.

"It feels really good," said Saumure "We're definitely going to watch some game tape and see what we need to improve, look to clean up a few passes and look to come out again like we did tonight."

The Mustangs and Thunderbirds tip off at 4pm at Alumni Hall. Fans can watch the action on OUA.tv.