Rustlers forward Veda Gottselig does work in enemy territory last Saturday night at the Lakeland gym as the Rustlers hosted the Keyano College Huskies in playoff action. The Rustlers advanced to the final four and will take on Briercrest Christian Academy tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. at the Glenmore Christian Academy. ACAC finals take place Saturday. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source Photos
The Lakeland College Rustlers women’s basketball team continued its undefeated run over the weekend with a 71-54 win over the Keyano College Huskies, sending them to this weekend’s Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) final four.
Championship action will be played at Calgary’s Glenmore Christian Academy, with the Rustlers playing their semi-final game tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. against Briercrest Academy.
Head coach Chris King was pleased with the way his team executed on Saturday, especially rookie forward Veda Gottselig, the night’s player of the game.
“(It was definitely a) playoff game, super physical, very loud in our barn,” said King after the win.
“Credit to Keyano, they played really tough, came back in the third and really pushed us. These are games we need to play in to get ready for nationals and tonight was one of those nights; we didn’t know who was going to step up.
“We had a major injury with Kayleena Garda breaking her foot on Wednesday, but Veda stepped up tonight in a massive way. She hasn’t played in months, literally, and was one of our best players,” said King, adding Garda will be out for quite some time.
Gottselig agreed with King when it came to the game’s physicality and added it was ‘super tough.’
“We were close with them before the last five minutes of the fourth, then we pulled away quite a bit and got some really good plays after that,” she said.
This was also Gottselig’s first ‘player of the game’ during her rookie season, an achievement she won’t soon forget.
“It’s unbelievable, I’m super excited and it’s really good to have your hard work recognized. I felt my hard work showed during the game, which is awesome. It’s an awesome feeling.”
Going forward, Gottselig noted King has been upping practice to get the team ready for what’s ahead.
“We have a really high compete level in practice; running all our stuff in practice, working out, and doing all the little extra things,” she said.
Rustlers guard Susan Ayaa applies pressure to Keyano’s Lameez Khan on Saturday night in the Lakeland gym. The Rustlers beat the Huskies 71-54, advancing them to the ACAC final four, which is being played this weekend at the Glenmore Christian Academy.
As for King’s expectations, Gottselig explained they’re higher than ever.
“They’re definitely really high,” said Gottselig. “He knows how good we can be and definitely puts pressure on us. But tonight showed how good we can be, how physical we can be; yeah, it showed.”
“For our girls, it’s all about playing our style for 40 minutes,” added King. “We know the pace is usually going to wear teams down, and that’s what it did in the fourth.”
On top of this weekend’s ACAC finals, the Rustlers are also preparing to host the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association finals from March 13-16.
“It’s a weird thing knowing we’re playing at nationals whether we win or lose (this weekend), but our goal remains the same, we want to win ACAC and come in (to nationals) as the ACAC champ,” said King.
Rustlers guard Hailey Somers drives the net with pressure from Keyano’s Danika Cadieux.
With nationals right around the corner, King explained he and the team would love to see a packed gym throughout the championship.
“We know we’ll be playing March 13 at 6 p.m., that’ll be our quarter-final game, and hopefully things go well the next night at 8 p.m.,” he said. “Hopefully everyone comes out, but tickets are selling fast.”
