Sisters Deidre and Lauren Bartlett were a terror to play against while at Oak Park High School.

The former, a sharp-shooter who was particularly dangerous from beyond the arc, and the latter, a speedy distributor who's fearless on both ends of the court, were two massive reasons why the Raiders secured the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association (MHSAA) AAAA provincial title in 2016-17.

Deidre — a senior shooting guard — took home MVP honours that year, while Lauren, a sophomore point guard, was named a tournament all-star and was a humongous reason why Oak Park went on to complete a three-peat in the following two seasons.

Fast forward to present day and the dynamic duo has reunited on the University of Manitoba's women's basketball team. And their relationship? Well it couldn't be any stronger.

"We're pretty close. We're best friends," commented Lauren.

"People always come up to us and are like are you guys really that good of friends, and we're like well, yeah. Our assistant coach, she said she doesn't get along very well with her sister and she watches us and says 'you guys should write a book on how well you get along.' Now we spend a lot of time together. We drive to school together, we see each other at practice and then we go home together and eat together. It's been good."

On the court, the pair have been valuable assets for a 7-5 UM squad that's undefeated since coming back from the winter break.  

Deidre — now a veteran in her third year — is enjoying her best statistical season, shooting just under 40 percent from three-point range, including a season-high 11 points on a three-for-five performance from distance against MacEwan in early January.

"It's kind of interesting, because I don't feel like that much of a veteran. I still feel like one of the younger players, but I guess it has been a while," she says with a smile.

"The other older players like Brittanie [Parisien], Addison [Martin], Taylor [Randall], Emma [Thompson], Keziah [Brothers], we've been hanging out for a long time so we're really good friends and it has been really nice to just embrace all of the younger people too. In stages obviously when they come each year they kind of join the family. I think it's nice that it's not really a hierarchy. Everyone is just pals and we're having a good time."

Lauren — who had other university options coming out of high school but chose to stick with her sister — has seen her minutes slowly increase with every contest. She's now a stable force at point guard, having started the last six games in a row while averaging 11 points per game, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals.

"I knew I was going to be a point guard on the team but I didn't know how far that would go in terms of playing time. I'm pretty competitive, so practicing with veteran guards like Taylor has really helped me in terms of comfort levels. She's one of the top scorers in Canada West, so playing against her in practice is basically like playing against every single guard on every other team."

There's no doubt that Manitoba's versatility and talent in the back court has been a major asset this season.

Along with the Bartlett sisters, Randall — one of the conference's best shooters who's currently fifth in the conference with 18.8 points per game — as well as Brothers and Parisien, both well-rounded defensive stoppers, have all seen quality minutes. In fact, Manitoba has at times operated with a four guard look based on the matchup.

"I think our guards specifically have a lot of flexibility," Deidre says. "Sometimes we'll have Keziah playing the two and sometimes she's playing the four."

"It kind of helps having that shorter lineup because in Canada West, people are pretty big," added Lauren, who stands at 5'4" and is an inch shorter than her sister.

"I was like holy moly I really feel short now. Being able to have that fast guard lineup kind of throws something different at people that they're not really used to."

While Lauren's game-changing quickness is immediately noticeable, it's her rock-solid defensive abilities that have also been a major asset. Look no further than her four steals against UBCO to start the season or three steals against Fraser Valley on Nov. 29 for evidence.

"She plays defence so hard, so it frees up the ability for us to not have to put a second defender on the ball. She takes care of it," head coach Michele Sung noted.

"It's a fun one for me, obviously with her being a pure point guard, but she also has gifts on the defensive end and I think it's really giving other people confidence to some pressure things that we've been trying to do for the last couple of years and to really get up and own it. As a group of five on the floor she really feeds the confidence on the defensive end."

The pair have excelled off the court as well.

Lauren is a direct entry student in the well-respected Asper School of Business and is also on the first-year committee as social co-chair, while Deidre is in her first year as the women's basketball rep for the University of Manitoba Athletic Council and is taking accounting.

"School-wise, accounting takes a lot of practice and there are a lot of practice questions," the older sister says. "It can be transferred to basketball that way, where you put in a lot of effort upfront and the results will just kind of come based on the effort you're putting in."

The pair agree that their hard-working mindset and dedicated approach comes from their parents.

"Basketball-wise, they really valued putting time in outside of practice and also looking at each practice as a stepping stone to games," remarked Lauren.

"The games don't always reflect how hard you've worked sometimes, so just keep grinding even if your game isn't going well. That's okay, as long as you've put in the work."