Horns want continued improvement heading into semester break

By Lethbridge Herald on December 5, 2023.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The University of Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s basketball team are riding a six game winning streak into the semester break and know there is plenty of work to be done through constant improvements.

The two latest wins came over the Mount Royal University Cougars on home court over the weekend.

“I think obviously Mount Royal is a good team and they showed where our weak points are, which is what we’ll work on,” said  Horns’ second-year forward Abby Graves.

“But I think as for this weekend, we showed a lot of composure and I think everyone was really bought into like the team and the program. So, yeah, we have everything to be proud of.”

In terms of what to build on, Graves thinks it will be coming off the Christmas break.

“We’re not planning on taking any breaks,” said Graves.

“We’re going to work hard and I think it’s evident that we’re a good team in this league and we can win games. So that’s great.”

The Horns have discovered that they can play fast and physical.

“I think that’s something  that’s really unique to us,” said Graves.

“Like though we’re undersized, we play with a lot of heart, which helps us win games and that’s helped us keep our streak alive.”

Graves cautioned that there is a lot to still be worked on despite seeing success.

“There’s always room for growth and I think that Dave (head coach Waknuk) and our coaches are really good at pushing us to do better.”

“Our theme has been improvement,” said Waknuk.

“That’s from game one. We had a tough preseason with scoring (and) trying to find our identity. We talk about improving all the time. We get a break here as far as time but we want to keep our foot on the gas.”

Waknuk sees the wins as the momentum they want going into the break.

“I feel really good about just the energy it gives us to go into the semester feeling good about it,” said Waknuk.

Waknuk says this is always a magic time of year.

“You see teams win games in second semester and lose games here because if you completely lose your focus, you’ll get off to a slow start and this league’s too good to be off (to) a slow start,” said Waknuk.

U of L sits in sixth place in the Canada West standings with a 7-3 record.