Huskies women’s basketball point guard Kabree Howard is gearing up for the upcoming season.

This is Howard’s fourth year with the team and she plans to continue playing for the Huskies until her eligibility runs out.

Despite a busy school schedule — she plans on applying to the College of Education after completing a native studies degree — Howard always makes time for basketball. More than Howard’s love of basketball, it’s the team atmosphere that keeps her coming back year after year.

Howard’s favourite thing about playing with the team is “the friendships that you make with the girls. [In the end it’s] what always keeps people around,” she said.

It’s difficult to say goodbye to players as they move on from the Huskies, but Howard remains friends with the alumni and welcomes the chance to meet new players.

“From year to year you think it’s going to be a big change with new girls and then you just make great new relationships with new people,” she said. “You meet so many great people.”

The inclusive atmosphere is also a big part of the reason why Howard chose to play ball for the Huskies. Before even meeting the women’s team coaches, she knew that they would be a positive influence.

“I really like how Jackie [Lavallee] interacted with her assistant coaches. They looked like such a team within themselves. I really liked that,” she said.

One of Howard’s main objectives for the season is to support her team in whatever way she can.

“Whatever my role is, if it needs to be scoring, making sure that we’re getting the ball into our post player … whatever the team needs is my goal.”

As for team goals, the squad is always looking to move up in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport national rankings.

“Every year [our goal] is to get to nationals and be one of the top eight teams in the country,” Howard said.

The team has played non conference games against Lakeland College and women’s basketball alumni to prepare for the upcoming season. So far the team has looked strong and Howard is hoping the pre-season success helps the squad hit the ground running.

“The expectations are always to win [and] to play well. Hopefully we can do that right away and start building on that,” she said.

Howard doesn’t stray far from sports in her freetime. She works at the Physical Activity Complex, is a member of the Huskie Athletics Council and enjoys cheering on the other Huskie teams.

“I would rather go watch a Huskie game than go watch an NHL hockey game. I would much rather watch the guys that we know,” she said.

With such a demanding schedule it’s easy to understand why Howard likes to have a moment to herself before the action begins.

“Before games [I’m the] first person out on the court shooting,” she said. “I like having the gym all to myself even if it’s just for a few minutes to shoot.”

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Photo: Jordan Dumba/Photo Editor