Rustlers hope practice makes perfect | Meridian Booster January 17, 2018

The Lakeland College Rustlers women's basketball team is raring to go.

It's been a month-and-a-half since the Rustlers (9-3) played a meaningful Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) game, a 66-57 win against their North Conference rival University of Augustana Vikings (5-9) on Nov. 25, and the heavy practice schedule is wearing thin.

However, the hope is the extra time off will help the club when the second half of their season starts up against the Keyano College Huskies (9-5) on Jan. 19.

"We want to be the team that everyone fears to play and we want to get to nationals," said Rustlers fifth-year forward Shania Magnusson.

"We want to practise hard to make the games easier for us throughout the season, so we have to take advantage of the time we have and have off."

Magnusson said the players hit the court for a double shot of two-hour practices each day in the first couple of weeks after their arrival back from the Christmas break on Dec. 27.

She said they also played a couple of exhibition games against two top ACAC South Conference teams in early January, before once again getting back into the gym for drills.

The Rustlers rattled off six straight wins to start the ACAC season back in October only to play .500 ball during a six-game run in November.

The inconsistent play may have been a reflection of the team's youth, considering the club only has two third-year, one fourth-year and two fifth-year players on its 15-man roster, but Magnusson noted they are making gains.

"I saw so much growth as the season went on," she said.

"We grew comfortably together and I think over this break and during practices going into the second semester that we're really gelling well and becoming more consistent."

Chris King, head coach of the Rustlers women's basketball team, said a string of injuries down the stretch also hurt the club's record last semester, but the time off has helped to get the girls back to fairly good health.

He said the break has also allowed them to work on some of their principles that weren't quite where they needed to be, as well as get the players back into game shape.

"I would prefer to have 14 days off instead of 60, but it is what it is," said King.

"We're looking at it as a reset for us, and hopefully we can come refocused. First semester as we got worn down we lost a little focus, so hopefully this will get us ready. Our bye week is this weekend then we basically play straight through to playoffs."

Magnusson said every girl on the team from their shooters to drivers to posts and perimeter players brings a different skill set to the court, but they all have to be working together to best feed off each other's abilities.

She said these practices have helped the teammates get closer on and off the court, which should drive them toward what they want to attain this season.

"Our main focus is to just play the best ball we can all the time," said Magnusson.

"We want to leave it all on the court and not have what ifs."

Story provided by:  Jamie Harkins, Meridian Booster