WINDSOR, ON - It was a close game on Tuesday night as the Mustangs topped the Lancers in the first OUA regular season game in Windsor's new complex, the Toldo Lancer Center.

It was the first game of the regular season in Windsor, and the Mustangs have just come off a season with a 12-02 record. 

Western gained possession at the jump, and the Lancers placed tight pressure on them for the entire game. 

After some initial back-and-forth with scoring staying pretty even for both teams, the Mustangs went on a scoring run led by Ariane Saumure, who scored 10 of the Mustangs' 16 points with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. 

Not only did the Mustangs open with solid scoring, but their defensive effort also did not go unrewarded, as they were very effectively holding the Lancers out of the key. 

At the end of the first quarter, the Mustangs held the Lancers off and doubled the points scored. Western headed into the second quarter up 24-12, with the Mustangs shooting at 47.1% from the field, compared to Windsor's 26.7%. 

There was a bit of a slower feel to the start of the second quarter; although the intensity was still there, both teams seemed to slow down and be more precise in giving themselves time to set up plays. 

Western maintained a strong man-on-man defense, but the Lancers went on a 15-02 scoring run early in the quarter, slashing the Mustangs' lead. 

The closer nature of the game led to some frustrations on both sides, and when Western called a time-out with less than four minutes remaining in the first half, they were down 31-30. 

The time-out brought a much-needed halt to the Lancers' run, as the Mustangs were doing their best to force Windsor to shoot beyond the arc. However, Windsor could effectively drain shots from a distance, maintaining an 80% success rate on three-point attempts with one minute remaining in this half. 

As the game headed into its second half, the Mustangs were down 41-39. 

While the Mustangs were still playing hard, the next 10 minutes didn't seem to open with the same intensity and fire they started with. 

Windsor opened the quarter scoring six unanswered points, despite Western's efforts. This was a much lower-scoring quarter than the previous two, demonstrating how much pressure the teams placed on each other. 

The first points of the half for the Mustangs came about mid-way into the quarter, with Sarah Harvey converting two free throws. 

The Mustangs switched to a more powerful full-court press, holding their player as close as possible on defense, tiring out the Windsor athletes as much as possible. Despite the Lancers opening the quarter with a small six-point run, Western stopped them from putting points on the board for almost four minutes later in the quarter. 

With a minute remaining before the final 10 minutes of play, the Mustangs were able to cut the Lancer lead to one point, heading into the last quarter with a score of 48-47 favoring Windsor. 

Windsor opened the final quarter placing intense pressure on the Mustangs, attempting to stop them from making a comeback. However, a three-point score from Emily Capretta brought Western into the lead for the first time since the second quarter, with 9 minutes remaining on the clock. 

However, the Mustangs fell back a little after this, briefly losing the lead before being brought back into the lead by a successful three from Ashley Truesdale. 

Not long after this, Windsor, not giving an inch of space, cut the Mustangs' lead back down to one, with both teams being at 5 team fouls and in the bonus for the remainder of the game. 

A foul from the Lancers at 1:34 remaining on the clock sent Brett Fischer to the line, where she made a free throw that put the Mustangs up by one. 

The Mustangs were then up by two points with only 7 seconds remaining, with Windsor in possession of the ball. A foul was then called on a buzzer-beater three-point attempt by the Lancers, and the referees made the controversial call to give the Lancers three free throws and revert the clock to 1 second remaining. 

Luckily enough, the Lancer shooter couldn't convert the free throws, and the Mustangs called a time-out on their possession, giving them the ball in their offensive end, and allowing them to run out the clock

Ariane Saumure led the Mustangs in scoring, with 24 points as the Mustangs ended their first 2022/23 regular season game, winning 65-64 against the Lancers.

Western's next game will be on Saturday, November 04, at 6 pm, against the Laurier Golden Hawks in Waterloo. Fans can catch the full live stream at OUA.tv.