Introduction:
In their first game of the 2023 portion of the season, the Windsor Lancer women's basketball team came out with an overtime 62-60 victory against the host Western Mustangs at the Alumni Stadium in London on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the blue and gold improve to 6-5 on the season while the Mustangs move to 7-4 overall.
 
Stats:
The Lancers were led by Harriet Carey with 16 total points and 2 rebounds as well as Vanessa Budimunda who racked up up 11 total points and 10 rebounds.
Western guard, Ariane Saumure made a strong impact with 25 total points and 9 rebounds, shooting 40.0% in FG's.
 
Game Flow:
To start the first quarter, the Lancers got off on the right foot as Vanessa Budimunda won the tip-off and Mariame Dehkissia was able to grab an easy two immediately. The blue and gold continued with strong possessions early in the game including when Reine Ndome and Julia Chiarot were able to connect for a nice shot in the paint. The opening quarter saw the blue and gold shoot better than the Mustangs with 38.1% from the field to the Mustangs 26.7%. Windsor stayed in control for most of the quarter to lead 21-11 after the first.
In the second quarter, Western slowly came up from behind. The Lancers found themselves struggling to capitalize on opportunities and the gap closed to 22-20. In the dying minutes of the half, Kaelyn Batten was able to knock down some free throws while the Mustangs found success from beyond the arc. She made another shot that forced Western into one last timeout with 41 seconds left. Fortunately, Windsor was able to keep the lead long enough before the buzzer and headed into the locker room up 32-30.
The third frame saw the Lancers try to build momentum and limit the Mustang scoring opportunities. Vanessa Budimunda worked her way through the paint for the first couple points of the quarter to increase Windsor's lead. Later on, Isabella Anes hit a jumper to solidify the Lancers 10-point lead in the game. Western continued to put it all on the line as the teams were only separated by one point heading into the last quarter, 46-45.
The final quarter had both teams on edge after a thrilling third frame and with the close scoring contest, they knew they were in for a battle down to the wire. Western guard, Ariane Saumure, helped the Mustangs respond well with a couple field goals while the blue and gold tightened their defense to keep the momentum in their favour. On a breakaway, Harriet Carey shot a layup to contribute 16 total points to the game. After playing strong, the Mustangs and Lancers were all tied up and went into overtime, 56-56.
In overtime, Windsor and Western kept the energy high until the end of the game as both were determined to come out on top. In the end, Windsor managed to keep the Mustangs out of the net and at the final buzzer, the Lancers were ahead with a 62-60 game to earn their first win against Western this season and first win of 2023.