The Carleton women’s varsity basketball team finished their last home games on a high note Jan. 29 and 30 when they defeated both the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Ryerson University Rams respectively.
The Ravens started the weekend off by defeating the Varsity Blues 73-55 in what first seemed like a potential blowout.
In the first quarter the Ravens hooped 26 points, only letting the Blues score nine in return.
Second-year Alyson Bush scored the first six points alone, hitting a lay-up, one foul shot and finally, a three-point shot.
“We came out really hard and determined,” Bush said.
The Ravens dominated the remainder of the first and continued to keep the momentum going into the second quarter, where they dropped another 20 points while the Blues scored only 12.
They ended the half with a solid lead of 25 points, ahead of the Blues 46-21.
Both Bush and rookie Jennifer Stoqua netted nine points, closely followed by Courtney Smith and Jessica Resch with eight points each.
“We came out with a good focus and jumped on them early,” said head coach Taffe Charles. “But then they came out and played harder than us.”
The tide started to turn after half and in the third quarter the Blues scored 19 points and held the Ravens to a close 17 points.
“We got attacked in the second half, ” Charles said. “If they had come out that hard at the beginning of the game we would have been in trouble.”
Charles continued to say he was not impressed by the way the Ravens handled the sudden surge by Toronto in the second half.
He said the team needs to realize their first-place position in the Ontario University Athletics’ East division is going to make teams do whatever it takes to put them off their game.
“We’re in a position of being hunted instead of being the hunters,” Charles said. “And I don’t know how well we’re handling it.”
The Ravens only netted 10 points in the final quarter to the Blues’ 15.
However, this wasn’t enough to upset the Ravens who took the game by 18 points, 73-55.
“Obviously the results are good,” Charles said, “but I’m not happy with how the results actually happened.”
The following night, the lady hoopsters came out against the Ryerson Rams and proved what they were made of, defeating the Rams 60-49.
“We had a chip on our shoulder because they had already beaten us,” Bush said.
Despite what was clearly a very aggressive team, the Ravens kept on top of their game, out-rebounding the Rams 41-27 in the second half and out-scoring them 37-21.
“Anytime a team is hacking you it definitely adds another factor to the game,” said co-captain Ines Jelic.
Charles recognized five-year Raven Jelic this weekend with a presentation and having her jersey framed in honour of her last home game with the Ravens ever.
“She’s a great leader for our team,” Bush said. “She always plays hard and she’s someone I look up to.”
Jelic contributed 12 points to the win against Ryerson.