LONDON, ON - The Western Mustangs returned back to Alumni Hall on Friday night, in an intense battle against the 13-2 Queen's Gaels, falling by 30 points.
It was a close back and forth throughout the opening minutes of the match, powered by Paris Alexander scoring the Mustangs' first five points of the game.
Following this, the Gaels started to gain momentum as they extended up and held a narrow lead as a result of their 11-2 run over Western.
The Mustangs continued to be tenacious defensively, putting their energy toward maintaining position between their players and the basket as much as possible throughout the quarter.
Ultimately, as the first quarter came to a close, the Mustangs trailed the Gaels by 11 points, down 26-15.
The Gaels have continued to press hard against the Mustangs through the first minutes of the quarter. Western have done an excellent job of holding the Gaels back in scoring this quarter, keeping them within a single score by the midway mark.
The Mustangs have come out of the first quarter on fire, narrowing the Gaels' lead to single-digits, not only maintaining but increasing the intensity we saw earlier in the quarter.
On the positive takeaways from tonight's match, Mustang Emily Capretta said "I think we saw moments there where we were playing the basketball we wanted to play... we're getting better with each game that we play."
Both sides are playing incredibly aggressively, going to the ground for a loose possession.
As the first half came to a close, the Mustangs continued to chase after the visiting Gaels, down by 17 following a 3-point buzzer beater from Queens, at 46-29.
The Mustangs are quick to fall back after scoring, and have been consistently setting up a solid defense, doing their best to close out the Gaels shooter's, often falling just short as they see success from deep.
Western is effectively owning the paint, and are doing their all to force rushed, wide shots from their opponent.
Despite trailing since the first quarter, the Mustangs have not given up any of their intensity, and continue fighting hard against Queen's efforts to extend their lead.
The Gaels continued to swarm Western defensively, often double and triple teaming them when possible to shut them down.
"We talked about it as a group - what wasn't working for us, and tried to keep a positive mindset," said Mustangs Assistant Coach, Allie Columbus. "I think we had a good second quarter, we overcame some setbacks, and we talked about things like moving the ball and not getting stuck as much on offense."
Western have remained aggressive defensively, and have shown some success in stealing possession back from their opponent, and turning back around for a scoring opportunity.
"Individually, a couple of people really did their job today - they really showed out," said Mustang Paris Alexander, "We are not worse than any team, we can compete with any team out there."
The Gaels have held a consistent twenty-point lead over Western throughout much of the third quarter, but the Mustangs are not allowing this to diminish their energy, forcing Queen's to work for each shot.
At the end of the third quarter, the Gaels were once more in the lead, up 69-44.
Western came out of the third quarter break powerfully, scoring 5-2 against the Gaels in the first minute of play.
The Mustangs' continued to be a force defensively, causing several turnovers and shot-clock violations against the visiting side.
While they fought hard, and consistently remained intense against the Gaels, ultimately the Mustangs were not able to bridge the gap between their opponent.
The final score was 88-58, in favor of Queen's.
The Mustangs will be back at Alumni Hall for tomorrow night's Senior Night game against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. Tip-off is at 6 p.m, fans can purchase tickets at WesternMustangs.ca/tickets or tune in to watch live at OUA.tv.
Western students enter for free with their OneCards.
