It was Canada’s time to shine in this year’s FISU 3×3 Basketball University World Cup.
The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team dominated the world’s top university 3×3 squads, claiming the title for the first time in program history and marking the first-ever victory for a Canadian school in the tournament.
The team of four — made up of Tatyanna Burke, Dorcas Buisa, Ingrid Matteau and Noelle Kilbreath — defeated Vasyl Stefanyk University of Ukraine in the final on Sunday to capture the championship 16–11 and complete their undefeated 5-0 run in Brasília, Brazil.
“It feels like a surreal experience,” Burke told the Charlatan back in Ottawa on Thursday. “I couldn’t be more proud of the girls and I.”
The Ravens qualified for the tournament back in May when they also swept the field at the FISU America Championship — making the team 11–0 in international play this year.
For Burke, one of the returning members who played in the regional tournament, the former Ravens varsity star was seeking redemption after the 2024 FISU 3×3 World Cup.
The Ravens women’s basketball team has seen many second-place finishes as of late, and the 2024 FISU tournament was no different.
Last year, the Ravens — featuring Jacqueline Urban, Teresa Donato, Kyana-Jade Poulin, and Kinly Rice — fell to Huazhong University of Technology.
“We were just thinking, ‘We’re going to do it for the girls last year,’” Burke said.
“I don’t think any of us thought we weren’t capable, but we also weren’t thinking, ‘Okay, this is going to be an easy road,’” she added.
But the Ravens sure made it look easy at times.
The squad started by dominating Pool C, advancing to the playoff games with wins over Payame Noor University of Iran and the University of Valencia from Spain.
Kilbreath, making her FISU 3×3 debut in the game against Payame Noor, looked right at home, leading all scorers with 11 points, including three from beyond the arc.
The former MacEwan University player transferred to Carleton for the 2024–25 season to pursue graduate studies, where she earned her Master’s of Arts in Religion and Public Life.
“It was such a cool opportunity,” Kilbreath said of the FISU 3×3 worlds. “I had finished my last year playing University basketball and thought it was done.”
“To get to compete for Carleton again on such a big stage was so cool.”
All four team members brought experience from high-stakes games, having also finished second together in the OUA and U SPORTS finals earlier this year.
That history gave them some chemistry going into the tournament, Kilbreath said.
“We had a couple weeks leading up to the tournament to get back on the court together,” Kilbreath said, who flew in from Calgary to practice with the team.
“It was a lot of relying on the things that we had built and the habits that we had built.”
Championship Sunday was a busy day for the Ravens, where the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals were all played on the same day.
“It’s pretty exhausting, but it’s like, it doesn’t matter. Like we kept saying, ‘We’re not tired, the word tired doesn’t exist for us right now. We just have a job to do. We have to get it done,” Kilbreath said.
“And it was so worth it in the end.”
The Ravens opened the knockout stage by defeating the University of Seville from Spain 20–14 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, they faced Huazhong University of Technology — the team that had bested them in the 2024 championship — and came out on top 21–19 in a tense, physical matchup that remained undecided until the final minute.
In the championship game, Carleton squared off against Vasyl Stefanyk University of Ukraine, who had advanced after upsetting Chinese Culture University of Taiwan and Uganda Christian University. After overcoming some early hiccups, the Ravens pulled away to claim the title with a 16–11 victory.
The Ravens ended with a tournament-high average of 19.2 points across their five games.
“We were able to just play to our pace, and even though we were small, we were fast, so we used that to our advantage,” Kilbreath said.
Kilbreath and Burke commented on the lively atmosphere of the tournament.
“Electric, it was so fun,” Kilbreath said. “We jumped in and got in all the Brazil cheers.”
“I’m just really happy that I got to experience that,” Burke said.
Featured image by Ueslei Costa/Confederação Brasileira do Desporto Universitário
