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Matt McKayMatt McKay
Basically, I'm a little league reporter trying to make it into the big leagues...

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, , University of Toronto Varsity Blues, University of Western Ontario Mustangs, Varsity Blues Basketball, Women's basketball

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After leaving everything on the floor in their heartbreaking loss to the second-ranked Windsor Lancers on Friday, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s basketball team clearly had nothing left for their Saturday night tilt against the Western Mustangs.

The Blues played like a defeated team well before the final buzzer and it showed on the scoreboard with the Mustangs showing no mercy in blowing away the Blues at the Athletic Centre, 84-67.


The game was actually fairly even for most of the opening quarter with the Blues down only four with a minute to go. That’s when the Mustangs’ offence decided to kick it into high-gear, scoring the final six points of the quarter to take a 10-point lead. By half-time the lead was 20.

Mustangs’ head coach Stephan Barrie, whose team has only one loss in their first seven games and currently riding a four game winning streak, said coming out hard and setting an aggressive tone in the first quarter was a big factor in his team’s energy level throughout the game.

“We were … determined that this game, if it was going to be a battle we weren’t going to lose because we weren’t going to work,” said Barrie. “

Barrie also credited the team’s off-season fitness for maintaining strong pressure on both ends of the floor and not allowing the Blues back into the game in the second half. Western instead had a very comfortable lead of 20 points or more until garbage time kicked in early fourth quarter when the game was clearly out of reach for Toronto.

“It’s something we spent a tremendous amount of time on in the summer with our conditioning with getting our kids ready physically more than they ever have been before,” Barrie said. “Some of that is paying off right now.”

Varsity Blues all-star forward Nikki Schutz, who led all players with 25 points and 13 rebounds, said there was a definite letdown coming into the game after coming so close to defeating one of the top teams in the nation the night before.

“(Friday) night was one of our better games of the season: we came out with energy, intensity and then there was a huge drop tonight from (Friday) in our intensity on defence,” Schutz said. “We need to trust we’re good defenders and tonight we didn’t show that.”

Schutz added that because they are such a relatively youthful team (nine of the 13 players on the team are either in their first or second year of eligibility) that when the going gets tough on the defensive end, the inexperience begins to show.

“When we lack on defence we get on our heels and we get down too much because we’re so young,” Schutz “It gets frustrating at times. You just have to remember that energy is really key on defence and we just have to go within ourselves to find that (energy) and maintain it for a full 40 minutes.”

The Blues will now hit the road for games against McMaster and Lakehead to try and salvage some wins before the winter break.

Leading the way for the Mustangs were Amanda Anderson and Beckie Williams who rained 19 and 15 points down on the Blues respectively. They also got a double-double from Katelyn Leddy, thanks to her 10 points and 13 boards.

For the Blues, aside from Schutz’s 25 points, Erin McNeely was the only other Blue able to crack double digits with 10. Guard Joanna Medri had a solid all-around game with eight points, six assists, one steal and one block.