Erika Lane is teaming up with her sister again.
The Brainerd senior forward verbally committed this week to play college basketball at the University of North Dakota following her senior year.
Her older sister, Olivia Lane, is going into her sophomore year at UND and Erika Lane will team up with her in 2021.
“That definitely had a role in it,” Erika Lane said of playing with her sister. “One thing that really stuck out to me on my visits there was I just really liked the coaches and the players were all very welcoming. It just felt like a home environment.”
Olivia Lane was Dispatch Player of the Year her senior season at Pequot Lakes in 2019. During her freshman season at UND, Olivia Lane averaged 6.1 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game while appearing in 25 games.
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Erika Lane is coming off her junior year at Brainerd where she was named to the Dispatch All-Area team. She averaged 10.5 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game and shot 35% from the 3-point line.
Erika Lane also played AAU basketball with the Minnesota Suns, a club based out of the Twin Cities.
The Lane sisters played together at Pequot Lakes when Olivia Lane was a senior and Erika Lane was a sophomore.
The most exciting part about going to UND for Erika Lane is playing with her sister again.
“I think it will be really cool,” she said. “I got to play with her for two years in high school and it was a great experience and she taught me a lot of things. I think at North Dakota we can really help each other out.”
Erika Lane wants to continue to improve her senior season at Brainerd, so she is ready for the challenge of Division I basketball at UND.
“I’m just working on all aspects of my game,” she said. “A lot of working on dribbling, layups and getting stronger mentally.”
It has always been a dream for Erika Lane to become a Division I basketball player.
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“For me, I started getting really serious about basketball in middle school,” she said. “I just saw how hard work really does pay off and it’s a really cool feeling to commit somewhere.”
Seeing what Olivia Lane did to get to UND really motivated Erika Lane to do the same.
“Everyone in my family has worked hard and it’s cool to see,” she said. “I just try to work as hard as possibly can to get to where I am and reach the goals I have for myself.”
Erika Lane also plans to major in physical therapy or nursing and really liked the programs UND offered in these fields.
“It just seemed like a very good culture and I think I’ll like it there,” she said.
For the upcoming Brainerd Warriors, Erika Lane is excited about the role she will play.
“I think we have a younger team, but a lot of our young players are very talented,” Erika Lane said. “I think it will be a good building on what we did last year.”
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CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.
