The Ravens women’s basketball season ended in the first round of the playoffs with a 74-58 loss to cross-town rivals the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Feb. 25 at Monpetit Hall.
The first quarter was fast-paced, with both teams responding to the other’s offensive attacks.
The high-scoring quarter ended with the Ravens on top 22-18.
Stephanie Carr led the Ravens with eight points, and ex-Raven Krista Van Slingerland led the Gee-Gees with seven points.
Ravens guard Abeer Farhat said the start was impressive.
“I think we are all just excited. It was our first playoff game and we’ve lost twice to Ottawa U, and I think we just wanted to get some revenge,” she said.
Unfortunately the start did not reflect the rest of the game.
“We got beat by a better team, that’s why we play 40 minutes,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said. “You know, we started off well. I think we came out with great intentions, but to sustain that, I think we need leadership and you need experience.”
Carr started the second quarter right where she left off, hitting another three-pointer. This was some of the Ravens’ only offensive output, as the game got slow midway through the quarter with no scoring for two minutes.
The drought was broken by the Gee-Gees with three back to back three-pointers.
The Ravens only managed five points and found themselves trailing 39-27.
“They’re giving an effort, but I don’t think they’re quite sure on how much of an effort they have to give,” Charles said. “I think they came out with an initial effort and the other team was surprised by it, but they showed the resolve to say okay, we need multiple efforts, and that was the difference tonight.”
The Gee-Gees opened up the third quarter with another three-pointer.
The Ravens began to claw their way back into the game with threes from Carr, Farhat, and Natasha Plaskacz.
The third quarter ended with the Ravens trailing 57-45.
“We’ve already played them three times,” Plaskacz said. “We know their plays, they know ours at the end of the day. It’s just who’s going to get it done.”
The third quarter got exciting, with the Ravens pulling the game within seven, after a three-pointer from Carr and a lay-up from Heather Lindsay.
Lindsay continued to be a presence down low, putting back baskets to try a last minute comeback.
It wasn’t enough, as the Gee-Gees continued to push offensively, and extended their lead to win the game 74-58.
Carr finished the game with 19 points and eight rebounds, Lindsay had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Olivia Leblanc had 12 points with four rebounds.
It was a back and forth season for the Ravens, who finished at 9-10.
They claimed the 12th and final spot in the Ontario University Athletics playoff.
Charles had higher expectations this season, but injuries to key player such as Lindsay Shotbolt, and other aspects changed those aspirations.
“To be honest with you, I thought we were going to do better,” Charles said. “We had injury troubles. We ran into different things. Being a bigger team, our foot speed was a little slow, and our experience level wasn’t where it needed to be.”
Even though this was a loss, the Ravens still found it to be beneficial.
“Playoff games are almost a different game really, your last one or you’re moving on,” Plaskacz said.
Farhat said this would be beneficial to all the younger players and can help show what needs to be worked on for the off season.
Charles said it’s how you respond to a loss like this can develop you to be a winner.
“We’ve just got to understand we’ve got to be winners in terms of how we approach things. Like okay, we lost, are we going to do something about it?” he said. “And that’s how teams get better, and I thought we had some kids that were doing some good things.”
