Diana Lee and Kris Young have joined forces once again as members of the UBC Thunderbirds women's basketball team. The last time the two were at the same school at played together; they won a BC Girls 'AAA' Provincial Championship with North Vancouver's Handsworth Royals.
 
Since then they moved in two different basketball directions while remaining good friends. Kris is in her final season with the Thunderbirds, where she has become one of the country's top players, earning All-Canadian status twice and helping UBC reach the CIS National Championship final in 2012.
 
On the other hand, Diana was the starting point guard for the NCAA Division 1 Boise State Broncos. She played three seasons with the Broncos before sustaining a back injury in her final year. Having graduated from Boise State last spring she returned to her home province where she is now pursuing a masters degree in Kinesiology at UBC and has two years of eligibility to play for the Thunderbirds and team up with her best friend one more time.

UBC Sports Information Assistant Ahmed Najdat sat down with the pair to get their thoughts on getting the opportunity to play together again.
 
Question (Ahmed): Diana, How is the NCAA different from the Canada West league?
Diana: So far I haven't noticed much of difference, I mean in practice we go pretty hard. Also it is best of three (playoffs) here in Canada rather than a one game knockout at the NCAA. We'll see how the game pressure is when I play my first game here.
 
Q: How does it feel to be back together?
Kris: It feels normal. We play every summer together, so it doesn't feel abnormal or anything.
 
Q: Is the chemistry still the same from high school days?
Diana: I think it is on its way back.
 
Q: Kris, What did you first think when you heard Diana was joining the Thunderbirds?
Kris: Well I've always tried to get her here, so I feel she finally listened to me. I was very excited because I wanted a great player to join my team, and that great player being my best friend is definitely exciting.  

Q: Diana, How are you adjusting to life with your new team?
Diana: Well besides Kris, I know a lot of the girls on the team from high school and vacations, so no problems there at all.

Q: Kris, how is the tactical approach changed now that Diana is here?
Kris: Well every year we get new players and we lose players, so I don't believe much has changed tactically, but rather we are all better now than last year.
 
Q: What are the chances of this team winning a CIS national title this season?
Kris: It is every team's goal to win, so we just have to focus and play our game. It is realistic to think about it because we have a very good team.
Diana: I think there are a lot of smaller goals that we want to accomplish and that will be the building blocks for that eventual goal. So it's step by step now.
 
Q: What is your favourite career moment?
Kris: Being in the national final in my second year was unreal.  Also winning Canada West MVP was a great moment because it was always a goal of mine.
Diana: One of the special moments is putting on the Canada jersey when we played together for the national team in the world's u19 championship in 2011, and then beating the USA during that tournament.
 
Q: How does friendship affect your on-court basketball partnership?
Kris: All successful teams have good relationships on and off the court, so even if she weren't my friend, we would've worked on the off-court chemistry when she came, but luckily she already has that with me and with the rest of the team members.
 
All eyes will be on Kris and Diana when the Thunderbirds tip off their season on Thursday October the 2^nd as they host the University of Guelph Gryphons at 6:00 pm at War Memorial Gymnasium.