Women’s Basketball Golden
It has taken almost two years for the women's basketball team to come full circle after their ACAC Gold medal performance from the 2019–2020 season, but they are now back to back champions. They punched their ticket to the national championship Nanaimo, BChosted by Vancouver Island University March 25-27.
After finishing first in the ACAC north division with a 16–0 regular-season record, the women earned the right to host the final four after a quarter-final victory over a tough King's University team. Friday, March 11th was a pivotal game. If the Rustlers defeated the visiting SAIT Trojans they would earn a trip to the national championship. The game started with SAIT coming out aggressively and building a lead in the first quarter before Lakeland started to build some momentum. The Trojans went into the half with a one-point lead. The Rustlers made a few adjustments at the half and outscored their opponents 22–5 in the third quarter and carried it through to a 60 to 41 victory. Alana Olson sparked the offense for the Rustlers and scored 9 points. She was solid on the boards pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds and was awarded player of the game for her efforts.
Saturday the team came out with confidence and passion, building a 22–4 first-quarter lead and did not look back. The Rustlers won each quarter but one on their way to a 71–49 victory and a back-to-back Gold medal performance. Alana Olson had another solid performance for the Rustlers with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Bilge Topaloglu chipped in 11 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the team. Fifth-year standout Tori Dugan was awarded player of the game.
North Player of the Year Tori Dugan and North Coach of the Year Chris King have been nominated by the ACAC to represent the conference for the CCAA Women's Basketball Player and Women's Basketball Coach of the Year awards. Winners will be announced next week before the national championships kicks off.