Courtesy: Nav Mohan
The Western Mustangs women’s basketball team has enjoyed a turnaround for the ages. After a 5-19 finish in 2018-19, the Mustangs have opened up 2019-20 with a 10-1 record.
In the summer, they hired Nate McKibbon as their new Head Coach. McKibbon came from Mount Royal University in Calgary. He also brings a wealth of experience coaching girls and women’s teams for Basketball Canada.
After trekking all over the world throughout the summer with the national program, McKibbon got the call in July to be the Mustangs Head Coach. He didn’t have a whole lot of time to get settled in a new program.
“We tried to get into the gym with them as much as possible over the summer but really the first time we got together was at the end of August,” McKibbon said on his first interactions with his team. Training camp runs for the basketball team as soon as the academic year begins. It involves two months of exhibition games before the regular season begins in late October.
The Mustangs opened up the season against the Windsor Lancers. They dropped the opener 94-68. “I think we were prepared technically and tactically. I don’t think we were prepared for the physicality and intensity of OUA play,” McKibbon said on his OUA regular-season coaching debut.
The Mustangs have not lost a game since then.
“I think they’ve responded since [Windsor]. I think it was an opportunity to test ourselves. But I think they saw what we needed to improve and we have gotten better each and every time we’ve stepped onto the court since then,” McKibbon says on his team’s response.
Not only have the Mustangs won every game they’ve played since then, but they have also done so in dominant fashion. During their 10-game winning streak, they’ve surrendered over 60 points just once. That was against the Queen’s Gaels, who were ranked third in the country at the time (now seventh).
McKibbon’s philosophy from the start has been simple. “The three core values that we’ve talked about all summer and that we’ve really tried to institute from the start is gratitude, connection and unbelievable effort. And everybody’s really bought into those.”
The effort can be seen in the defensive play from the Mustangs. They collect the second-most rebounds in the OUA with over 45 per game. They also record nearly four blocks a game.
“They’ve shown huge improvement in multiple areas defensively. To the point where we’re a tough team to play against because of our length, because of our athleticism and but also because of how well we play together.”
Offensively, the Mustangs are no slouches. They are the fifth-highest scoring team in the OUA, averaging 74.5 points per game. That also has them hitting the third-most field goals per game with 28.
W
FINAL
74 – 46 Mustangs WIN.Julia Curran leads the Mustangs with 15 points on the night. Western also had 5 players with double-digit point totals.#WesternMustangs #RunWithUs #westernu pic.twitter.com/7gDqwhbmHp
– Western Mustangs (@WesternMustangs) November 28, 2019
The fall schedule, however, has been fairly forgiving to Western. Queen’s was the only ranked opponent they have played so far. Aside from that, they’ve played Waterloo, Algoma and Laurier twice each – all teams who have a losing record.
Once January starts up again, the Mustangs will be hit with a slew of tough matchups. Carleton, Ottawa, Ryerson, Toronto, and the defending National Champion McMaster Marauders are all on the docket.
“I think the timing is almost perfect for us. At the beginning of the year when we were playing Windsor, we were still learning each other’s names, it was a very new team… We’re a little bit banged up right now because of some basic bruises and strains and different injuries. The next month gives us a chance to work on our conditioning and also get healthy,” said McKibbon on the tough winter schedule.
The Mustangs women’s basketball team currently leads the OUA West division. They are just outside the most recent U Sports Top 10 rankings, receiving 73 votes on the latest list (10th place received 154 votes).
They have just one game remaining in 2019, playing in Guelph on November 30th.
