University of Alberta claws past the Horns

By Lethbridge Herald on February 9, 2024.

Herald Photo by Justin Seward University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Kamryn DeKlerk attempts to keep the ball in bounds while being defended by Jayden Tanner of the University of Alberta Pandas during Canada West women's basketball action at 1st Choice Savings Centre on Friday night.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s basketball team had a game to forget on home court against the University of Alberta Pandas on Friday night.

The Horns were down 28-23 at half time to the Pandas and lost by 23 points in a 61-38 defeat.

“I like the start,” said Dave Waknuk, Horns head coach.

“I didn’t love the middle and the end. But I think, yeah, they’re a good team. I knew they were the best defensive team in the league and they showed that the way that they shut down our offence.”

Waknuk wants the team to take care of the ball better and make quicker decisions.

“They (Pandas) don’t give you a lot of time to think out there,” said Waknuk.

“So they force a lot of mistakes. I think we made some mistakes in runs and just couldn’t get the offence going.”

The important things that Waknuk wants to see in tonight’s rematch is to see the girls include more speed in their games, do more ball sharing and get more players around the rim.

“We (have) got to try to get more movement going and then just trying to trust our own abilities,” said Waknuk.

“We (have) got some great shooters. I think you just start to hesitate when the ball doesn’t go in and then you start to question your shot, and  all of sudden you’re missing two or three in a row and it gets in your head. So we got to wash that one out, learn from where we can and we (have) got to come back and be confident (tonight).”

“Baskets were hard to come by,” said Abby Graves.

“But I think it’s something that’s really  correctable and easy to fix for (tonight’s) game.”

Graves credits U of A for hitting big shots without a Horns response.

“That’s the game,” said Graves.

Tip-off for the regular season finale between the Horns and Pandas goes at 5 p.m. tonight at 1st Choice Savings Centre.

The Horn men’s lost 77-63 to the U of A Golden Bears in the late game. 

Both teams will battle again tonight, 7p.m. at U of L.