The University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees proved to be too much for the Carleton Ravens in the women’s Capital Hoops Classic on Feb. 6, defeating the Ravens 46-40.
U of O started the game strong with two three-pointers, giving them an 8-2 lead over the Ravens two minutes into the game.
Ravens second-year guard Stephanie Carr hit a big three after a timeout was taken to bring the Ravens back in the game.
Carr continued to be an offensive presence throughout the game, clawing her team back into the tight contest. The Ravens took a 14-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“We know that they are going to pressure us, we did some different things, but you can’t get all the experience in one weekend,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said. “We just have some young kids, we just have to keep working hard, and the one thing about sports is no one is going to feel bad for us.”
The Ravens continued to hold off the Gee-Gees defensively early on, while Carr dominated on offence.
Carr said the fans helped her find energy in the play.
“I find it easy for us to get energy from the fans playing here, which is different from playing at home,” she said.
The Ravens managed to extend their lead to nine points before the Gee-Gees responded.
U of O guard Julia Soriano dominated for the Gee-Gees, hitting three triples before the half.
The end of the second quarter got sloppy, with three back-to-back turnovers by both teams, and nobody scoring in the last two minutes.
The half ended with Carr leading the Ravens with 11 points and forward Heather Lindsay leading with six rebounds.
“Once we settled down we were able to get something good, but we were all panicking a lot and the turnovers were huge,” Lindsay said.
The Gee-Gees opened up the scoring in the second half, going on a 9-0 run to take the lead 28-25.
The Ravens went five minutes without scoring a point after that, but Carr continued to keep the Ravens in the game with several foul shots and a big three to re-take the lead. The third quarter ended with Carleton trailing 35-33.
“I think if we were tougher out there it would have made a huge difference, because we got outworked a lot,” Lindsay said.
The fourth quarter saw the Gee-Gees pull ahead by seven points with five minutes remaining.
Lindsay brought some hope to the Ravens with a three-point play, bringing the game within four with two minutes remaining.
Gee-Gees guard and former Raven Krista Van Slingerland sealed the game with a three-pointer in the final two minutes of play.
With the loss, Carleton falls again to a losing record of 7-8, while U of O retains its spot atop the Ontario University Athletics North standings.
“I think it was there for the taking, we made a pile of mistakes. Defensively, we could have been better,” Charles said.
The Ravens had to play the game without third-year forward Lindsay Shotbolt, who leads the team in points per game, due to an injury.
Charles said the team struggled offensively, turning the ball over 25 times to the Gee-Gees’ 14.
“Forty-six points—that’s not a lot of points. We need to score more,” he said. “We turned the ball over too many times.”
The Ravens play again Feb. 13 against the Queen’s Gaels on the road.
