Big things were expected of the Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team coming into this season.
With star players Alyson bush and Kendall MacLeod in their final year with the program and an impressive supporting cast around them, many saw this as Carleton’s big shot at a Bronze Baby Trophy.
Somebody forgot to tell that to the University of Calgary Dinos.
Fueled by 14 points from guard Kristi Shiels—nine of which came in the fourth quarter—the fifth-seeded Dinos ended the Ravens championship dreams with a 59-51 win in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Final 8 quarterfinal March 15.
Ravens head coach Taffe Charles summed up his thoughts on the contest in one word: frustrating.
“We just didn’t make plays,” Charles said after the game. “Give credit to Calgary, but at the end of the day we just didn’t do what we needed to.”
Just by looking at his demeanor on the Ravens bench, you could tell he wasn’t happy for the majority of the game. Given that things started so brightly for his team, that made the loss all the more difficult to take.
Very early in the contest, it seemed as though the Ravens were going to pull away and coast to a victory.
Bush opened the game aggressively on both sides of the ball, forcing turnovers and drawing fouls with her willingness to drive hard to the basket—qualities Ravens fans have grown accustomed to over the years.
It was obvious from the tip-off that she wasn’t quite ready to hang up her red, black and white Carleton jersey.
But suffering from the flu since Mar. 12 and having been put on IV, it became clear as the game wore on that the reigning Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East player of the year was not at her dominant best.
She finished with seven points and two rebounds.
“She definitely wasn’t at 100 per cent, so having to overcome that was difficult,” Charles said. “It meant other players had to step up and take greater responsibility.”
Early on, the Ravens were finding success inside the paint, while the Dinos prolific scoring attack was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until the four-minute mark that Calgary was able to get on the board.
But once they did, there was no turning back for the Canada West division finalists. After taking the lead late in the opening quarter, they never trailed again.
Carleton dominated on the glass all afternoon long, particularly on the offensive end. The Ravens outrebounded the Dinos 30-9 in that department, but were unable to take advantage of multiple second-chance opportunities.
Carleton had an enormous advantage in terms of shots taken, putting 72 attempts towards the rim, while Calgary could only muster up 48. But the Ravens simply couldn’t find the bottom of the basket.
Despite having a number of clean looks under the hoop, Carleton only shot 25 per cent from the field in the game. Elizabeth Roach and Lindsay Shotbolt — who led the team with 15 and 9 points respectively — were a combined 8-36 on the afternoon.
Was it nerves? Perhaps.
Throw some rust into the equation and you have the perfect cocktail for a sub-par performance.
“We had some kids who didn’t play last week, like Shotbolt, so missing a week of practice and then coming here wasn’t ideal,” Charles said. “It’s one of those things that’s just hard, not to make excuses.”
The contest featured a classic battle between a high-powered offence and a team known for playing aggressive, shutdown defense.
The Dinos came into the contest boasting one of the most explosive offences in the country, putting up 74.2 points per game during the regular season. That clip was good enough for fourth in the country.
Meanwhile, the Ravens — much like their counterparts on the men’s side — are known for their tenacity on the defensive end. Carleton finished the regular season allowing a measly 52.4 points per game, which was the second-best mark in the nation.
But it was their inability to make shots that ultimately cost them a semi-final berth — coupled with the clutch shooting of Shiels, who knocked down a trifecta of three-pointers in the final frame when Carleton had fought to get within three.
Every time the Ravens looked poised to make things close, the Dinos would answer right back.
Whether it was an untimely turnover, a missed shot or even a bad call from the officials, Carleton could not regain the lead.
