Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

There’s been headlines in what you would call the OUA “transfer window” which is the first three months of the offseason, and two major moves surround the team in London, the Western Mustangs. Their star is moving on to continue her education in the capital and they’re gaining a veteran who has chosen Western as her next landing spot for her journey.

For years the Mustangs have been a team that you were going to see in the playoff picture. From 2017-2019 they were dominant on the glass and they had the play of Maddy Horst, a all-star guard, pushing them into the playoffs consistently, and in 2019 they made it as far as the OUA semifinals.

Since then, they haven’t been able to make it over the hump, and now they’re losing the biggest piece of their makeup the last 4 years, as well as two pieces that have contributed to their rebounding advantage they’ve held over the rest of the league, so questions arise.

Over the last two years, the Mustangs identity formed around not letting the defence set up, which meant Ariane Saumure getting steals near half court, or pushing the break after a rebound. They struggled in the half court, not being able to contain teams on the perimeter, and executing with ball movement offensively. They often became very one-dimensional, relying on the individual skill of Saumure to create opportunities, and getting stuck late in the shot clock forced to put up a bad shot.

There was a big hole defensively, and a need for depth in scoring. After a 2021 season where Ashley Wheeler and Jess Morris gave that perimeter defence, and Ashley alongside Sarah Harvey did their job inside the paint, the Mustangs struggled to find that replacement on the outside and it was evident there were gaps on the defensive end.

Now, MacKeely Shantz arrives for her final run, and she is a much-needed addition to the Mustangs, providing them what they desperately were looking for. MacKeely is one of the best individual defenders in the OUA, and her ability to guard with length anywhere on the court makes her a player you can trust with a matchup and not have to help too often. Not looking at her offensive skills and her ability to get to the rim, just on the defensive end, MacKeely is what the Mustangs needed, but is she enough?

With Madalyn Picton out last year, Ariane was the most reliable point guard the Mustangs had. Third in the league in minutes per game, Ariane carried a lot of the weight, and you didn’t have to watch much to know the difference in play when she was on versus off the court. She is now gone, so who will take her minutes?

As of now, the one point guard on the Mustangs roster outside of Picton is Mila Urban from Vancouver BC, with Ashley Truesdale and Avarie Thomas playing more off the ball. In the 2022 season, MacKeely brought the ball up for the Gryphons who were facing their own guard depth problems after the loss of their cornerstones Skyla Minaker and Burke Bechard, but with this Mustangs roster, it would make more sense to put MacKeely at the 3/4 so she can make up for the loss in rebounding and her catch-and-go abilities can be fully utilized.

MacKeely can fill the gaps created by Melanie Cloutier’s transfer to Laurentian and Brett Fischer’s move to Lambton College, but who’s going to take over what Ariane gave at the point guard spot is for sure the biggest question going into the 2023 season. We’ll have to wait for more recruits to get announced, and for Western’s preseason action to see how they approach replacing their all-star guard.