LONDON, ON - The energy was high at Alumni Hall Saturday night, as Mustangs' family and friends were allowed in attendance for the first time this season to see Western defeat Windsor, by 28 points.
The Lancer's had a strong offence, starting right from the jump, and they were up 6-1 before Western scored their first field goal, with a layup from Brett Fischer.
This was the beginning of the end for the Lancers' only lead of the game. The Mustangs' offence took over, bringing the score to 19-19 to end the first quarter before they ran away with it in the second.
"We went through the game tape a few days ago at practice. We really wanted to clean up how we get into our offence," said Ariane Saumure, on the focus heading into Saturday's game.
Sarah Harvey added, "we just focused on the extra rotation and really sharing the ball, looking to find the extra person and just getting the next great thing," echoing the changes that the team was successfully able to implement heading into this win.
The Mustangs opened the second quarter utilising their strong man-on-man defence, which heavily contributed to their ability to pull ahead in scoring quickly. There was also an increase in ball movement, with Western frequently making sure that three of their teammates touched the ball on the play.
The second half opened with much more power than the first, allowing the Mustangs to maintain a steady lead, going from being up by five at the beginning of the half to being up 70-50 heading into the final 10.
Western remained strong into the fourth quarter, holding a lead of at least 20 points for the rest of the game, with their largest lead at 30 points with 1 minute remaining.
Play became a bit more scrappy, with Windsor seeming to be getting very frustrated with the Mustangs pulling ahead. Western didn't let this affect the way they played, however, maintaining the integrity and skill we'd seen from them all game.
The final score was 96-68 for Western, with the Mustangs' top scorer Sarah Harvey, scoring 19 points.
The Mustangs will play their next game this Wednesday, February 23 against Laurier, at Alumni Hall. Tickets are on sale now at www.westernmustangs.ca/tickets.
