Alumni Hall 

Western vs Ottawa 75-73 Nov 29

Tonight inside Alumni Hall felt like a living heartbeat. The building never sat still. Every possession had a pulse and every moment felt like it could tilt the floor. Western and Ottawa gave the crowd a show that climbed and climbed until it exploded in a finish that will be talked about for years across campus. The Mustangs did not just win this game. They authored a moment.

First Quarter

The opening quarter moved like a storm that never hesitated. Both teams attacked with force and did it with confidence. The crowd barely had a second to breathe between possessions. Layups were flying at both ends. The pace reached a level you almost never see in the OUA. Annie Balfe set the tone when she rose into a strong three on the wing that sparked the first Western run. Moments later Emily Capretta found Rachel Daly for a smooth jumper that pulled the Mustangs back within two. Sydney Cowan battled on the glass early, collecting offensive rebounds and blocking a shot at the rim. Then Capretta swatted away a layup inside, igniting the bench with her presence. From that point the quarter turned into an exchange of pure energy. Western pushed hard into the paint for tough finishes and Ottawa answered with the same fire. Both teams poured in over forty points of combined scoring. It was fast. It was chaotic. It was thrilling. It told everyone this night was going to be different.

Second Quarter

Western opened the second with another burst. Cowan stepped into a clean three from the right side that shifted the momentum and immediately lifted the bench. That shot marked her nineteenth point of the half. Then came one of the most beautiful sequences of the night. Renee Armstrong brought the ball up the floor, read the defender, and slid into a behind the back pass that hit Paris Alexander perfectly in stride. Alexander laid it in and the whole gym erupted. The Western bench roared as Ottawa scrambled into a timeout. "I was running purely on adrenaline," Cowan said after the game, still smiling at the memory of the play that sent the entire building roaring.

Ottawa pushed back with strong finishing from McCarthy and Russell, who both hit key layups through contact. Still Western kept answering every punch. Daly and Capretta combined for critical defensive rebounds. Van Heeswyk held her ground inside and earned her way to the free throw line. Clive and Balfe added hustling minutes, diving for loose balls and disrupting passing lanes. Every moment carried weight. Both teams moved with urgency and neither allowed the game to slow down. At halftime it remained a handful of points either way, the margin as thin as the tension floating in the air.

Third Quarter

Western came out of the break with the kind of fire only great teams find after a setback. Alexander opened the half by pulling up into a fearless three that snapped through the net. It felt like a spark thrown into dry grass. Seconds later Capretta answered with her own three from the wing, tying the game and shaking the floor. Cowan soon followed with a quick release three from the top that brought the building into another wave of noise. Ottawa had no choice but to burn a timeout just to breathe.

The next stretch belonged to Western's toughness. Cowan stripped the ball clean near half and Armstrong found Alexander in transition for another layup. Capretta recorded a steal of her own, darting into the passing lane and pushing the tempo. Joosten delivered a huge block under the rim and grabbed the rebound right after. Van Heeswyk powered through contact on the boards and knocked down two cold free throws. Moments later Alexander hit another three, pushing Western ahead by four. The run was electric. Even when Ottawa fought back with mid range shots and cuts inside, Western stayed composed.

Head coach Nate McKibbon said during the run that the team needed to lean into pressure. He said that playing fast and using their depth was the key to creating separation.

The quarter closed with Western holding a narrow lead, but the momentum was real. The bench was alive from end to end. It was Western basketball at its most fearless.

Fourth Quarter

The fourth quarter unfolded like a thriller where no one knew the ending until the final breath. Both teams traded punch after punch. McCarthy answered a Cowan layup. Capretta tied it again at sixty two with a beautiful cut off an Alexander assist. Armstrong found Cowan slicing inside, and Van Heeswyk powered home another layup moments later. Each possession swung the game back and forth. For minutes at a time the scoreboard stayed within two points. Every shot created a jolt through the crowd. Every defensive stand felt like a moment that could define the night.

Ottawa kept answering. Western kept matching. It was two teams equally skilled and equally determined.

Then came the final two minutes.

Western found themselves down four points at sixty eight to sixty four. The next possession felt like the whole game could hinge on it. Ottawa gave up back to back turnovers and Western seized the moment. Alexander rose into a huge three on the left wing that sliced the deficit to one. The next defensive stand brought one of the loudest roars of the night. Armstrong flew in for a massive block, pinning the ball clean as the bench erupted. "Having a rookie I grew up around made that assist special," Armstrong said of her connection with Cowan in those final moments. "I used to play with her sister, and Sydney was always around. It made that trust natural."

But Ottawa retook a one point lead. Western were forced into the foul game, trying desperately to save seconds. They fouled once. Then again. Then again. Time felt like it was slipping away. Ottawa held possession. Western had no choice but to extend the game and hope for a mistake.

With just two seconds left on the incoming inbound, the game reached its breaking point. Ottawa froze. They failed to get the ball in. The referee raised his arm. The whistle blew. A five second violation. Western ball.

It felt like the miracle that brought life back into the building.

Armstrong took the ball for the final inbound. She stayed calm. She found her angle. She delivered the pass to Cowan curling off a screen with perfect timing. Cowan caught it, rose with balance and belief, and released the shot that carried the entire room inside it. The ball floated through the air and dropped clean through the net at the buzzer. Alumni Hall erupted. The bench stormed the floor. Fans jumped from their seats. Ottawa stood frozen in disbelief. It was the dagger that sealed a seventy five to seventy three comeback win that felt almost cinematic.

"I was speechless," Cowan said after the game. "It was a lot of fun and I was running off adrenaline."

A Milestone Folded Inside a Miracle

This night also carried a historic moment. Fifth year guard Renee Armstrong scored her one thousandth career point, a milestone she built through four seasons at Guelph and now a final season at Western. That her thousandth point happened on the same night she assisted the game winning three to a rookie she has known since childhood made it feel like something scripted by fate itself.

Coach McKibbon said he was proud of his team not just because of the shot but because of the work that came before it. "That shot feels so good," he said, "but I'm proud of them every day. They've been playing good basketball and they just needed proof for it. I hope this game and that final shot was the proof they needed." He added that he would always rather take a good clean three than a risky layup in that moment and that the players executed exactly what the moment demanded.

This was not just a Western win. This was a Western moment. A night that stitched itself into the history of Alumni Hall and into the hearts of everyone who witnessed it. A comeback from four down. Foul after foul. A five second violation with two seconds left. And a rookie hitting the shot of the season. It was everything you could want from basketball and more.

Western Leaders
Sydney Cowan 23 points 4 rebounds 2 assists 2 steals 1 block
Paris Alexander 19 points 4 rebounds 1 assist 6 steals
Emily Capretta 12 points 7 rebounds 4 assists 2 blocks 2 steals
Renée Armstrong 2 points 8 rebounds 12 assists 4 steals 1 block
Catíe Joosten 5 points 6 rebounds 4 blocks 1 steal