THUNDER BAY – Staking the undefeated Western Mustangs to an 11-0 lead to start the game proved to be too much to bounce back from Friday night for the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
The Mustangs owned the first half, taking a 43-30 lead into the break and held off their hard-charging host in the third and fourth, eking out a 76-71 win at the Thunderdome in their lone trip to Thunder Bay this season.
Mackenzie Pukicz paced the Mustangs attack, dropping 27 on the Lakehead, who fell to 1-3 and face a tough test Sunday against the fifth-ranked Windsor Lancers, a game originally scheduled for Saturday night but postponed due to weather and travel concerns.
Rookie Nikki Ylagan was one of the few bright spots for the Thunderwolves, topping the team with 18 points, 12 of which came in the second half as Lakehead poured it on trying to claw away at the what proved to be an insurmountable Windsor lead.
It was a rough start, Ylagan said.
“We didn’t execute on defence, so we just had to motivate each other and get each other riled up in order to get ourselves back in the game,” said Ylagan, an 18-year-old who hails from Mississauga, Ont.
“Usually we’re the team that is high energy and today we just started low. Throughout the game we got there, it was just not enough.”
It was a breakout game for Ylagan, a guard Lakehead coach Jon Kreiner expects to count on on more and more to create offence.
Ylagan chipped in five assists to go with her double-digit point output and was clearly the Wolves best player all night.
It’s just a matter of confidence, Kreiner said.
“Sometimes she backs down and defers a little bit. We can’t have that. We need her coming out firing on all cylinders. We needed that tonight,” Kreiner said. “So I guess from a positive standpoint, she stepped up and had a big game. And she had to step up and have a big game. It’s just too bad we couldn’t pull out the win in the end.”
Ylagan was pretty nonchalant about her play.
“I identify as a shooter, so I just went out there, played my game, tried to get my team involved too,” she said.
“It feels good because I’m a rookie, but I think everyone did their job too. We just didn’t come together as a team. Individually we played well.”
Bridget O’Reilly had 18 points, including 5-for-10 shooting from three-point territory, while rookie Daron Mainville chipped in 14. Julia Curran and Sam Loucks each had 13 for the Mustangs (4-0).
Beyond the arc: Sunday's start is 2 p.m.
