Women's Basketball Weekend Recap | January 21, 2018
The Lakeland Rustlers Women's Basketball team travelled to Fort McMurray on the weekend to face the Keyano Huskies, where the teams split the weekend series. The Huskies won 72-61 Friday night, but the Rustlers responded Saturday afternoon, winning 62-58.
The Rustlers and Huskies went back and forth to start the game, with the score being tied at ten halfway through the quarter. The Huskies would then go on a 15-3 run to finish the quarter with a 12 point lead. The Rustlers struggles continued in the second quarter, struggling to find ways to score and lacking intensity defensively. The Rustlers would find themselves down as many as 19 in the quarter, as they trailed 37-22 at the half.
The Huskies opened up a 20 point lead to start the third quarter, but the Rustlers fought back to cut the lead to 10 midway through the quarter. The teams went back and forth for the remainder of the quarter, and the Rustlers were down 53-44 after three. The Huskies came out strong the start the fourth quarter, going on a 9-0 run. The Rustlers were down as many as 16 in the quarter and tried to fight back, but had too many defensive lapses, losing 72-61.
The Rustlers were led by first year guard Kaitlyn Tonita with 18 points and ten rebounds, while first year forward Bailey Johnson had 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. Fifth year forward Kellsey Sinnett added seven points and nine rebounds for the Rustlers.
The Rustlers gave up 21 points in the first quarter, before locking in defensively, holding the Huskies to eleven points in each of the second and third quarters, allowing them to build an eight-point lead in the third quarter while keeping them in the game and giving them a chance to win. The Rustlers led for the entirety of the fourth quarter, finding ways to get stops when they mattered most.
A steal by first year guard Hailey Sommers with less than a minute left in the game forced the Huskies to foul, as the Rustlers lead to seven. The Huskies would hit a 3-pointer in the dying seconds, but the Rustlers were able to come away with the 62-58 win.
Tonita had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Rustlers, while Johnson added 13 points and ten rebounds and Sinnett had seven points and ten rebounds. Sommers added ten points and five rebounds, including 6-8 from the free throw line for the Rustlers.
Rustlers Head Coach Chris King was happy with how his team responded Saturday following Friday's loss.
"We played better Saturday," King said. "We competed better and were more physical. Friday, we got down early and just couldn't come back. Kaitlyn (Tonita) played really well for us this weekend. She had probably her most consistent weekend of the season and did lots of things for us – bring up the ball, attack the rim, rebound – a little bit of everything."
The Rustlers return home to play their first home games of 2018 January 26th & 27th against the Grande Prairie Wolves. The games are set to tip-off at 6:00 pm on the 26th and 1:00 pm on the 27th.