The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team left no doubt in their OUA playoff quarterfinal, defeating Guelph 82–62 on Saturday at the Ravens’ Nest.
Carleton pulled ahead early as Kyana-Jade Poulin and Jacqueline Urban carried their strong play into their first playoff matchup of the season, combining for 12 of the team’s 17 first-quarter points.
“We’re understanding what it takes to take teams out of what they want to do, and I think we did that for long periods of time today,” Ravens head coach Dani Sinclair said.
“It was definitely a gritty, physical game, but I think we did a pretty good job of staying composed,” Urban said postgame.
“I think it’s about not overthinking or overlooking any game. If you come in thinking it’s bigger than it is, that’s where things can go wrong.”
The Ravens maintained their lead throughout the first quarter, though the Gryphons generated chances and continued to apply pressure.
“They’ve been on the up since Christmas,” Sinclair said of Poulin and Urban. “There’s a lot of pressure on them this year to take on a big leadership role and they’ve understood more and more what that means.”
In the second quarter, Carleton took over. This time, it was Tyanne Matosas-Adderley joining Urban, with the two players bringing twelve of Carleton’s dominant 21-second-quarter points.
The eight-point cushion the Ravens built in the second quarter energized the crowd and bench as it gradually wore down Guelph, giving the young Ravens a comfortable 38–25 lead at halftime.
“There’s a lot of people that (this) was their first playoff game, so maybe there was a little bit of nerves there,” Poulin added.
Down 15 after an early-quarter jump shot from Abany Deng, the pressure was on for Guelph.
After Christina Morra hit two free throws for the Gryphons, the teams traded baskets in a tightly contested third quarter. Guelph had several chances to seize momentum from Carleton to no avail.
“Just staying stable during the game really helped,” Urban said. “I think we had good energy throughout from the bench to keep that going, even when (Guelph) started to make little runs.”
The fourth quarter was as stagnant as the third.
As Carleton subbed out their starters with around four minutes left, the young Ravens had settled into reality: They had booked their ticket to a semifinal appearance.
Star Poulin, who finished with a staggering 28 points, said she still expects more from her team despite the blowout win.
“I think as a team we can do much better. We’re gonna face better teams than them.”
Carleton will face Queen’s Gaels on the road in the OUA playoff semifinals on Wednesday, with the tip-off time yet to be announced.
Photo by Nathan Cox/the Charlatan
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