VANCOUVER — The Carleton Ravens are headed to the U Sports Final 8 championship final after dominating the uOttawa Gee-Gees 84-60 in the semifinal matchup on March 15 at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
Carleton leaned on its depth, as all nine Ravens who touched the court put at least three points on the board against their crosstown rivals. Teresa Donato’s 17 points led the way for the Ravens.
The Ravens are set for a U Sports championship rematch with the Saskatchewan Huskies the following night at 7 p.m. EST. The Gee-Gees will play for bronze against the host UBC Thunderbirds at 3 p.m. EST.
Only a week prior, the Gee-Gees toppled the conference-leading Ravens 70-61 in the OUA final, spoiling Carleton’s shot at a Critelli Cup three-peat.
This time, the Ravens made a dominant and undeniable statement: that the Critelli Cup loss would not define their season.
Carleton’s defence was nearly impossible to push through for the OUA champions. The Ravens forced 11 turnovers from their crosstown rivals in the first quarter alone to take a commanding 26-7 lead.
Head coach Dani Sinclair made a good bet on her team’s depth which paid big dividends as the Ravens’ bench players combined for 21 points before halftime.
In a turnaround third quarter, the Gee-Gees made a serious case for a comeback, as they nearly halved Carleton’s 27-point lead to just 14 points. Still, the Garnet and Grey still needed to step it up even further in the fourth quarter.
But it was the Ravens who made a stronger push out of the final intermission, decisively outscoring their rival 25-15 in the fourth quarter to relegate the Gee-Gees to the bronze medal match.
Story will be updated.
Featured photo by Janson Duench/The Charlatan.
