Women's Basketball Weekend Recap | October 23, 2017
The Lakeland Rustlers Women's Basketball team travelled to Grande Prairie on the weekend to face the Wolves and came away with two victories, giving them a 4-0 record to start the season.
The Rustlers came out strong Friday night and never looked back. First year forward Bailey Johnson and third year forward Brianne Hergott started off strong inside for the Rustlers, scoring the first 7 points for the team. Both teams went through a scoring drought in the second part of the quarter before first year guard Ashlee Norman would break the drought for the Rustlers who led 16-8 after one. While the Rustlers went through another three-minute scoring drought in the second quarter, they locked in defensively and held the Wolves to three points in the quarter.
The Rustlers strong quarter defensively allowed them to push their lead to 30-11 at the half. In the second half, the Rustlers found their three-point shot, knocking down four three-points in the third quarter on the way to a 22 point quarter and a 52-22 lead. In the fourth quarter, both teams would trade baskets and go several minutes without scoring, before the Rustlers would come out with the 72-35 win.
First year guard Kaitlyn Tonita lead the Rustlers with 16 points, nine rebounds, an assist and a steal, while Johnson would add 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Second year guard Meg Ferraz gave the Rustlers six points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Tonita was named Player of the Game for the Rustlers.
Saturday, the Rustlers struggled for the first three quarters, before pulling away in the fourth quarter, coming away with an 85-61 win. The Rustlers got out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter before the Wolves would go on a 9-0 run of their own to tie the game. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the quarter, and the score was tied at 17 after one. Both teams struggled to score to start the second quarter before the Rustlers made three free throws and knocked down two three-pointers to take a nine-point lead. The Wolves responded and brought the game back to within two points.
At the half, the Rustlers led 38-37. The Rustlers built several 5, and 7 point leads in the third quarter, but could never pull away with it, as the Wolves kept fighting back, making it a two-point game, 57-55 after three. In the fourth quarter, the Rustlers finally ran away with the game offensively and held the Wolves defensively, scoring 28 points in the quarter while holding the Wolves to six.
The Rustlers were led by Tonita, who scored 20 points and added four rebounds on her 20th birthday. The Rustlers also got 15 points and 13 rebounds from Hergott and 14 points, two rebounds and four assists from Ferraz. Player of the Game for the Rustlers was Hergott.
Rustlers Head Coach Chris King was pleased with some of what he saw from his team on the weekend, but also saw areas for improvement.
"We had flashes of good basketball and flashes of bad basketball," King said. "We are young and with that comes being inconsistent. Hopefully, as the season goes on and we get more experience, we will be more consistent."
The Rustlers (4-0) return to the court Friday night at 6 PM when they host the NAIT Ooks (3-1). The Rustlers will travel to Edmonton Saturday night to play the same Ooks.