It’s been a learning season for a young Lethbridge Kodiaks women’s basketball team.
“To see how much growth they’ve made from the end of September until now is quite rewarding,” said Ken McMurray, the Kodiaks’ head coach.
McMurray is guiding a squad he believes is hitting its peak, winning seven of its last nine games to close out regular season play.
The Kodiaks’ lineup features just one player with more than three years of experience and this season’s lessons are being put to the test this weekend.
Lethbridge is hosting the top eight women’s basketball teams at this year’s ACAC championships, which tipped off Thursday afternoon.
“Everyone’s going to be aggressive and everyone wants (to win),” Kodiaks forward Courtney Deemter said. “It’s going to be lots of grit, who wants it more and fighting for those loose balls and (making) hustle plays.”
A 14-7 regular season record has the Kodiaks as the south division’s third seed.
But the the team isn’t putting much weight on its ranking, instead choosing to look at past results.
“We’ve beaten every team that’s in the tournament so far, other than Concordia,” McMurray said.
“We really like our draw and our chances. I feel like we’re going to battle and see what happens.”
Building chemistry has been a priority for the Kodiaks and it’s that teamwork they believe holds the key to their success.
“We’ve learned to play with each other, know what each other does,” said guard Catriona Smith. “Kind of build off of that and we’ve gotten better all season.”
“We have to play together,” McMurray said. “When we have plus-20 assists, then I feel like we have a good chance to win. It’s sharing the ball, making the extra pass.”
All the experience this season is leading to the Kodiaks’ latest test: the high-stakes stage of championship basketball.
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