The Rustlers down the Queens in Red Deer on Saturday night

Red Deer, November 19 - It was another tough test for the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens as they faced off with the Lakeland College Rustlers on Saturday night in Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) action. The Rustlers are the defending ACAC Champions and came home with a bronze at national's last season. Before tonight's game, they sat in fourth place with a 2-5 record.

The Queens are coming off a 10-point loss against the number six team in the country last night and the Rustlers dropped 77-72 contest against the Olds College Broncos.

Forward Lauren France (Bachelor of Arts – Psychology) would open the scoring with a swish three-pointer. Last night, Queens Head Coach Avery Harrison was displeased by his team's shooting in the second half so definitely a good start to the game for the home team. But after this the quickness of the Rustlers got into the heads of the Queens and they started to rush the ball which led to some unforced turnovers.

Red Deer would settle in late in the first quarter and would only be down by four at the quarter break. Rustlers guard Alana Olson led her team with eight points, and it was very much a team effort from the Queens with six players getting on the scoresheet after the first 10.

The Rustlers were showing off their shooting abilities as they would go on an 8-0 run in the first three minutes of the second quarter. But the visitors would get in some foul trouble early and the Queens were able to attack the paint which led to foul shots for the home team. Before the half, the Rustlers were able to put on a shooting clinic and go up by ten before the break. Olson continued her team lead with 13 points, and Keanna Richards (Bachelor of Science Biological Science) would have the most points for the Queens with eight.

It was a 50/50 quarter as the Queens were able to crawl back into the game before the final quarter. They would outscore their opponent 22-16 in the third which put them down by just four going into the final 10 minutes. Olson and Richards continued to lead their respective team in points.

With it being a close game heading into the fourth quarter, it was expected to be a very tight last 10 minutes which it was. Each team scored six points in the first six minutes of a very defensive fourth quarter. The Rustlers would walk away with the 64-54 victory over the Queens.

The players of the game went to Alana Olson of the Rustlers and Keanna Richards of the Queens. Olson finished with an impressive 25 points and 11 rebounds. For Richards, she completed her night with 13 points and four rebounds.

The Queens will be in action next weekend in Lethbridge for two matches and the Rustlers will play a home-and-home series with the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings starting on November 26.