Mustangs women’s basketball is moving on to the quarter finals.

Western came in favoured against the tenth-seeded 11–11 University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, with a 14–8 regular season record and the seventh seed in Ontario University Athletics.

Home court advantage favoured the Mustangs, and the game tipped off at 6 p.m. in Western University’s Alumni Hall.

Despite losing the opening tipoff, Western stuck first offensively with two made free throws from third-year guard Paris Alexander.

While the Mustangs scored 17 points on an ugly 26.3 per cent from the field in the first, they earned their stripes defensively by holding Ottawa to just 11 points by the quarter’s end.

Fifth-year guard Renée Armstrong was a defensive juggernaut for Western — racking up three steals and blocks throughout the game.

Armstrong topped the OUA regular season with a ridiculous four steals per game.

Women’s Basketball Steals Per Game Leaders (OUA Regular Season)

Western’s offense stepped up in the second, firing 45.5 per cent from three and dropping 27 points to the Gee-Gees’ 16.

Western ended the first half up big, holding a 17-point lead over the Gee-Gees.

The Gee-Gees tried clawing back in the second half, but the stampede continued — Western outscored Ottawa 16-10 in the third and 17-13 in the fourth.

The Gee-Gees only topped Western on the scoreboard for one minute and twenty seconds in the first quarter — Western held the lead for 90.7 per cent of the game.

Per Cent of Game With Lead

Along with an imposing defence, the Mustangs offense was more efficient, making 39.4 per cent of their shots compared to the 35 per cent made by Ottawa.

Western’s offensive star, first-year guard Sydney Cowan — who led the Mustangs in scoring this season with 16.3 points per game — shone bright with a game-high 23 points.

Cowan sank five threes tonight, more than four hit by the entire Gee-Gees’ offense.

Western vs Ottawa 3 Point Attempts and Makes

With a 77–50 win for Western, the Mustangs’ will head to Toronto on Feb. 21 to face the second-seeded Toronto Metropolitan University Bold in round two of the OUA playoffs.

Western faces an uphill battle in their next game, having to crack TMU’s undefeated 11–0 home record with tipoff set for 4 p.m..