Ambrose Lions Women's Basketball's Monumental Season

Calgary, AB | Women's Basketball's Monumental Season

The Ambrose Lions had a historical season this past year ending with the most wins in program history with 12-9 and their first playoff appearance in program history.

The Lions opened the year by going 4-4 in exhibition. Their exhibition schedule included a trip out to Montana in December. This was such a highlight for the team as this was the first time they have traveled to the US for exhibition.  

Their roster this year included some returning and senior players that helped them perform at the level they did this year. 3^rd year Makenna Graham, 5^th year Nya Gach and Tegan McArthur.  These players had a large impact on the teams winning season this year with their knowledge and experience of the game. "Our graduating players were influential leaders and brought a lot of stability to our team all year." says head coach, Neil Nystrom.

The team's season opened up with a bang as they head off to Medicine hat to take on the Rattlers. This game was a great starter to the season as it was a convincing 65-38 win. The Lions took on some tough matchups early on against, Red Deer, Lethbridge and Lakeland, that they ended on the losing side of. With some fire on their backs to get back in the winning column, the team took on St. Mary's Lighting near the end of the semester and came out the other end with two big wins, putting them in a good position for playoffs. The lightning ended the regular season in 3^rd place, so these two wins were big for the team.

Heading into the second semester, the Lions were 4-6. As the play-off push was hanging over their heads, the women were striving to perform at a high lievel to get them in the 4^th/5^th spot before playoffs. They ended up going 8-3 in the second semester and finished their season with a 12-9 record. "We had a strong second semester as we worked our way up into playoffs this year. The south was very competitive, so this was a highlight of our season for sure." Notes Nystrom. One big game they had was a tight match up against rivalries, the Briercrest Clippers. The Lions and Clippers went basket for basket throughout the game. By the end, they were down by two with seconds left on the clock, 2^nd year Andrijana Bokan drove to the hoop, got fouled, and made the and-1 for the win. They finished their season with an impressive winning record. 

The Lions came out of the regular season in 5^th place and were able to make it into playoffs for the first time in program history. They have set the record for women's basketball at Ambrose with 12 wins in a season. Another focal point of the season was #8 Andrijana Bokan winning an ACAC all conference award, the second one of its kind in Ambrose Women's basketball.

With this season at a close, the team is anticipating a new coach entering the program and is hoping to continue their momentum upwards, as they move into next season.   

Season Summary

ACAC awards

Andrijana Bokan – All Conference

Ambrose Lions Team Stat Leaders

#8 Andrijana Bokan – PPG (13.8)

#8 Andrijana Bokan – REB/G (10.2)

#9 Nya Gach – FT/PCT (79.7)

#5 Makenna Yeung – 3PT/PCT (29.0)

#7 Tegan McArthur – AST/G (2.2)

#8 Andrijana Bokan – BLK/G (1.0)