London, ON – A 4
th quarter surge by the Mustangs gave them a 69-63 win over Laurier on Saturday night in the final game of the regular season.
"I felt at times we didn't take advantage of some opportunities that were there for us, but at times when we were just able to go out and play I thought we played really well," said Mustangs Head Coach Nate McKibbon "We made an adjustment in the third quarter which took us a bit of time to get into but in the fourth quarter we really started to execute,"
Both sides got out to a bit of a slow start with Western taking the first run of the game on an 8-0 run finishing with an Ariane Saumure three-pointer. Laurier would respond to pull the game within a point with just over 3 minutes remaining, but Sam Cowan would answer right back with a three-pointer of her own for the Mustangs to push the Mustangs lead to 12-8. Laurier would keep pace with the Mustangs and hold a one point lead at the end of the quarter 15-14.
The second quarter saw momentum flip at both ends of the frame with Laurier jumping out to an early six point lead but some solid defensive pressure and a 7-0 run for Western to finish out the frame saw the Mustangs hold a six point lead of their own at half time.
Laurier came out of the gate with an immediate dagger by draining a three-pointer to cut the Western lead to three and added three more triples in the quarter to outscore Western 21-12 in the quarter. Western would finish the frame with a buzzer-beating field goal from Brett Fischer to cut the Laurier lead to just three points at 49-46.
Around the midway point of the 4
th quarter, the Mustangs would put the pressure on and go on a 10-2 point run to get their first lead since early in the third quarter. The Mustangs would see a big moment of energy come with under a minute remaining, as Laurier tried to run the length of the floor, Fischer would run full steam and come up with an emphatic block to negate the Golden Hawks taking the momentum.
"Maybe a little bit of cockiness there, I felt I had to redeem myself after missing my free throws there because I don't usually miss like that," said Fischer "I was just not letting her have that layup and also rival numbers, so I definitely didn't want that happening."
After the game, the Mustangs recognized four graduating seniors from this years roster (Melanie Cloutier, Brett Fischer, Ariane Saumure and Morgan Tamminga) along with Jenna Lawrence who didn't play this season but was with the team from 2018-2022.
"We try to treat our players as people first, they're not basketball players, they're people that play basketball," said McKibbon "I think this is a great opportunity to really celebrate them as well-rounded human beings as they leave us as both as basketball players, as students and community members."
Western now waits for their playoff matchup which will be announced following the conclusion of the regular season on Sunday. Stay tuned to WesternMustangs.ca for full playoff details.
