The parallels between Bisons head coach Michele Sung and third-year point guard Taylor Randall are through the roof. They're both from Ontario, went to the same high school and played for the same club team. So it's not too much of a surprise that the latter decided to commit to the school that the former played and now coaches at.

"I knew the program needed some improvement and I wanted to be someone that could come in right away and make an impact," says Randall.

"I also wanted to play against new players and I loved Michele and what she wanted to do with the program. Not just the fact that she wanted to turn the program around, but it was the way she was going about it. I was really exciting to come in and make an impact as much as I could."

As someone who typically played shooting guard in high school, Randall had to adjust to the challenges that came with manning the point.

She was a bit unsure if she could handle the pressures at first, however Sung knew how high Randall's basketball IQ was and had confidence she could get it done. It's paid off, as the soft-spoken but dedicated athlete has started 37 games over the past two years and was named a Canada West Third-Team All-Star last season after averaging 16.8 points per game.

"Point guard in our league requires so much depth in terms of your basketball intelligence," Sung says of Randall's abilities at the position.

"I think it's tough when you haven't had the opportunity to learn that gradually. She played mostly at the two all of her career, so I think it's been a lot of pressure on her but I think it's given her an opportunity to address the big gaps in her game and leadership that we probably wouldn't have had to look at."

Randall echoed her coach's sentiments, especially when discussing guarding different players. 

"I wasn't naturally a point guard when I was in high school, so I've learned how to guard multiple positions and be more vocal on defence and share what I'm seeing. That was a huge struggle for me coming in and the last two years, but I think this year I've really improved on that."

But as much as Randall has grown on the court, so too has Sung as coach. Because the pair are so similar in the way they think and see the game, it's enabled the fifth-year bench boss to sometimes take a step back but also know when to be hard on the fellow Ontario native.

"It's kind of funny because sometimes we'll butt heads and then I'll leave the gym and be like oh, I know exactly what she's thinking.

It's been a really cool process for me. It's been an opportunity for me to grow as a coach and create a really strong relationship with her from a mentorship piece. She's probably the first player that's really embraced me being hard on her and us going back and forth on that. But at the end of the day I know she believes that I have her best interests in mind. It's been neat that way."

Regardless of the outcome, Randall has also learned to embrace the positives, something that's been a message all year from Sung.

"It's kind of a theme for us that we've been talking about, especially in the second half of the year," the head coach says.

"Let's really focus on the process and the outcome will take care of itself. One step at a time, one possession at a time, let's really talk about the nuts and bolts of progressing our offence, or what does our defence have to look like if one player is playing really well on the other team. She's really gravitated towards that and it's been awesome."