KINGSTON, Ont. (November 25, 2017) - The Queen's Gaels (7-1) came away with a narrow victory over the Western Mustangs (4-5) on home court Saturday night.

GAME FLOW
Dropping 23 points the night before against the Lancers, Marianne Alarie (Sudbury, Ont) stayed hot for the Gaels, dropping the first basket for Queen's. Coming into Tricolour territory, the Mustangs were ready for battle, responding with a deep 3-pointer.

Pushing back, Veronika Lavergne (Ottawa, Ont) found Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont) down low for a layup. Emma Rictey (Orillia, Ont). showed off her fast hands, getting a steal and taking it back to the other end for 2-more, forcing the Mustangs to use a timeout early.

The game was close throughout the first, as both teams played tight defense. Abby Dixon (North Vancouver B.C.) also got her hands dirty with a steal that she took in transition for a layup.

Late in the first quarter, the Gaels were beginning to run away with the game as the offense started to click. Explosive down the court, Dixon was smooth as ever clinching a baseline layup to give the Gaels a comfortable 24-16 lead entering the second frame.

Marianne Alarie looked as if her scoring streak would carry over from the previous night, as she nailed a pair of three's to open the second quarter action. The Mustangs kept the score close, cutting the deficit to just four with a layup. 

Impressive offensive play saw the purple make an 8-0 run with just two minutes remaining. Free-throws by Alarie put the game back at a stalemate, with the score tied up at 36-36 going into halftime.

Alarie was quick to set the tone again in the third, opening the scoring for the Gaels with a baseline floater. Western retaliated with a 3-pointer and added another jump-shot.

A threat down low, Lavergne found the basket off the dish from rookie Sophie de Goede (Victoria, B.C.). Halfway through the quarter, the Mustangs picked up a steal and took it in for a layup to make it an 11-point game in favour of the visitors. Coming out of the timeout, Sarah Safitch (Markham, Ont.) sunk a big 3-pointer followed by another three off the hands of Alarie.

Coming off the bench, de Goede made her presence knwon, clinching tough rebounds and finding her teammates. Off a steal in the paint, de Goede found Alarie for a long outlet pass that led to a layup score. Battling hard to cut the margin, the Tricolour trailed 51-56 entering the last frame.

Emma Ritcey opened the final quarter with a big block in a 3-on-1 situation to prevent a fast-break layup. Both teams played tight defense and were scoreless during the first three minutes of the quarter.

Western would break the dry spell with a 3-point play. Lavergne got on the board as well, with a put-back layup. de Goede added 2-more with a floater in the key.

Rolling offensivley, Queen's managed to close the gap to a 3-point game with four minutes remaining. A Ritcey free-throw and jumper leveled the score, followed by another score from Alarie to give the Gaels the lead.

A late 3-pointer by the Mustangs would made it a 1-point game, but Alarie would retaliate once again with her own three off the backboard. Disciplined defense and relentless rebounding kept the Mustangs at bay late in the game. With ten seconds remaining, de Goede sank a fade-away jumper to seal the deal for Gaels with a 71-68 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS
23 - Marianne Alarie led the team in scoring with 23 points.
22 - 22 points came from the 2^nd Unit, lead by Sophie De Goede's 10
7- The Gaels amassed 7 blocks on the night.

FINAL SAY:
"We weren't looking after our defensive possessions, we were chasing them all over the floor and they ended up with some downhill runs and some open layups." - Assistant Coach, James Bambury, on how Western kept the game close.

UP NEXT
The Gaels take on the York Lions in a mid-week showdown on Wednesday November 29. Tip-off is set for 11:00am at the ARC. Watch the action live on OUA.tv or grab tickets at www.gogaelsgo.com/tickets.