It's safe to say fourth-year Bisons guard Keziah Brothers got her basketball genes from her dad Duane.

A former member of the U of M men's team in the late 1970's and early 80's, he helped instill a passion for the sport in his daughter from a young age.

"He was definitely my introduction," Keziah says.

"When I was younger that was definitely his thing and my mom was an actress. He definitely led me into basketball and it turned out to be a super great introduction. In games where I feel like I did terrible and games where I feel like I did great, he always has the right thing to say it seems. That's probably the biggest way we connect in life is through the sport."

Brothers' high school basketball journey involved a few different stops.

She spent her grade nine season at St. Mary's, her grade ten year at Linden Christian and her junior and senior seasons with Glenlawn.

Brothers – playing varsity as a sophomore – and her Linden Christian teammates made an impressive run in 2013-14, making it all the way to the AAAA final four, despite being a AAA school.

"That was a really exciting year and the first time that I thought okay, I'm good enough to play at this level and I really like it."

The following two years at Glenlawn provided the versatile guard the opportunity to learn under well-respected head coach Bryan Kornberger.

"He is a fantastic coach," Brothers noted.

"He really developed my footwork to make it better, and just trying to take more of a leadership role on the court and applying your skills while not holding back. That was probably the biggest thing. It was also the enjoyment of basketball as it grew. Kornberger opened the gym every morning at 7:30 am and anyone could go and shoot."

Brothers had a few different post-secondary offers, however her previous relationship with Bisons head coach Michele Sung, as well as her recruitment meeting sold her on the U of M.

"When Michele met with me and my parents, it just fit. I also remember coming here for a recruitment meeting and watching one of the practices. It was cool.

I knew Michele from U17 provincial team – she was an assistant coach when I was playing – and I knew her coaching style and I liked her coaching style. She's pretty calm and she explains things well. I liked the way that she presented herself and the way I saw her coach the team."

With some key veterans dealing with injuries, Brothers – along with fellow guard Taylor Randall – saw solid time in their rookie year in 2016-17. The former played in all 20 regular season games, starting one while averaging 20 minutes per contest while the latter led the team in points per game at 12.7.

"Fortunately for us, we got the opportunity to get some playing time in our first year, which I think was really big," Brothers says.

"You go on the court for the first time and you're all jittery and want to do well. It was really big to come in, literally with no expectations and play free and just play the game I love. I think that's something that I've done throughout my whole basketball career. I've been a hard-working aggressive player who will go get the loose ball."

That final sentence sums up aspects of Brothers' game fairly well.

She's been a sparkplug player, averaging over 20 minutes every year of her university career while also helping Manitoba to the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

"Just really fulfilling a role each year has been cool. It helps in a sense that I don't want or need to be the best player or scorer. Doing the little things that maybe don't show up on the score sheet, I've seen how valuable that's been over the years. I'm not the best player on the team or have the highest score every game or anything like that, but seeing how that contributes to a team dynamic has been super cool."

This season, Brothers has taken up a bigger leadership role as one of the captains on Manitoba's roster while continuing to be a Jill-of-all-trades player.

She led the team with 25 points in a season-opening 82-69 win over UBCO and followed that up with two blocks in the rematch. She then added a team-leading 11 rebounds in the second game of a back-to-back against Lethbridge last weekend.

"Keziah for us has always been a leader down the road and this is the year," her head coach added.

"I think she's really taken that on. She gets a lot of productivity because she works hard."

It certainly helps to have a father who she can share her joys and struggles with. 

Duane, a former superintendent of the Louis Riel School Division who was instrumental in the creation of Dakota Collegiate's new multi-use turf field, receives a call from his daughter after every game.

"He always has ways of explaining in that it's not always about basketball. Basketball teaches you about life and that's been the big thing since starting university basketball. Even after this weekend, I didn't feel like I had a great game on Friday. I talked to him afterwards and the next morning he had called me and said to focus on playing free and being a leader not just in the classic ways, like being the best encourager or being the hardest working person on the court at all times.

He was just continuing to remind me about the things that I can do to be successful. He always says I'll never disappoint him. He's been huge and the only person I talk to about basketball, because he knows the game. He always knows what to say."

Watch Keziah Brothers and the Bisons women's basketball team at the 29^th annual Duckworth Challenge, as they take on rival Winnipeg at Investors Group Athletic Centre (IGAC) on Thursday, November 21 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10, with fans 12-and-under and students of both universities in free!