When the Mustangs women’s basketball team got word RMC had forfeited their scheduled Friday night game with Western, they didn’t take the night off.
They hit the gym.
“We had a good practice last night,” fifth-year guard Amanda Anderson said when asked what the team did with their unexpected free time Friday night. “That definitely helped. Any day off before a game is always good, especially when you’re coming in against a good team like Queen’s.”
The Mustangs certainly looked rested against the Gaels Saturday afternoon, coming away with a decisive 66-53 victory to improve their record to 4-1 on the season. Anderson led the way for the Purple and Silver, scoring 21 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the field.
“I was feeling on,” Anderson said after her inspired play. “It helps when you have good players around you who make shots too. It takes some of the pressure off yourself.”
Anderson has been a cornerstone for the Mustangs this season, averaging 15 points per game, good for sixth in Ontario University Athletics competition. Her 21 points Saturday were just one shy of her season high 22, which came against Ottawa two weeks ago.
“Amanda’s been doing a little bit of everything for us this year,” Mustangs head coach Stephan Barrie said of his point guard. “The scoring is something we’re all used to, but she’s playing better defence this year. She’s rebounding and her leadership is really solid.”
Anderson saw more time on the floor than anyone else in the game, logging 34 minutes. She grabbed three rebounds, notched four assists and hit two three-pointers. For Barrie, Anderson helps the team in ways that aren’t measured on stat sheets.
“Amanda is a kid that we feel we have to have on the floor most of the game to give that direction, leadership and poise when we need it,” Barrie said. “Her presence is much larger than the stat line shows. She’s a critical piece for us.”
After a back and forth first quarter, the Mustangs pulled away in the second, going on a 10-0 run and preventing the Gaels from scoring a basket for the first five minutes of the second stanza.
“We needed more control on offence,” Gaels head coach Dave Wilson said. “Western did a really good job of keeping us off balance. We didn’t play good enough defence. That hurt us down the stretch.”
The Mustangs escaped the first half with a six-point lead, despite being out-rebounded 21 to 13. The Mustangs allowed the Gaels to come down with a whopping 11 offensive rebounds in the first two frames.
“In the first half our rebounding was atrocious,” Barrie said bluntly after the game. “Queen’s had 11 offensive rebounds in the first half alone. They just didn’t score on any of those opportunities. The score was deceiving. We were up at half but we probably should have been down at that point.”
Barrie wasn’t exaggerating. Despite winning four of their first five games this season, the Mustangs have been out rebounded 189 to 171 by their opponents.
“Right now our rebounding is God-awful. We’re going to have to fix that before we’re going to be successful against the best teams,” Barrie said. “If you’re going to beat the best teams you’re going to have to play the entire game on defence and not just a half. That’s where we’re disappointed. We need to get 40 minutes of effort.”
Despite their poor play defensively in the first half, the Mustangs were able to utilize their rested legs in the second and put the game out of reach with 20 points in the third quarter against a Queen’s defence that often struggled to keep up with the Mustang attack.
“I thought we were sluggish. I don’t think we were very sharp at all,” Wilson said of his tired team. “Western did a really good job of keeping us under the gun with pressure all game long. Eventually we made a few mistakes and Western did a really good job of capitalizing on them.”
Despite only playing the one game against Queen’s, the Mustangs exited the weekend with two wins after the RMC forfeit. Next weekend sees tough road dates with Ryerson and the University of Toronto, who are first and second in the OUA’s East Division. Anderson knows her squad will have to play better than they did against the Gaels.
“The Toronto teams will be a challenge. They’re really aggressive […] so we’re going to have to take care of the ball a lot better than we did today.”

Courtesy of Craig Glovey