After losing to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees Jan. 18 in the Capital Hoops Classic, the Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team found their revenge Feb. 4 at the Ravens’ Nest.
The Ravens won the game in overtime 71-63, avenging the 59-55 loss they suffered at the hands of the Gee-Gees at Scotiabank Place last month.
“We came in with a different focus and obviously we came in with a chip on our shoulder from the last game,” said fourth-year guard Alyson Bush.
“We were pretty upset with losing that game so the intensity was definitely up.”
Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said he expected an aggressive game from the opening tip-off.
“It was a close game against an a cross-town rival. That’s what we normally get,” he said. “It’s always going to be close, they know us very well and we know them very well.”
The Ravens stayed ahead until the fourth quarter, when the Gee-Gees tied things up and took the lead.
Charles said the Ravens struggled on rebounding — a sentiment echoed by fifth-year forward, Ashleigh Cleary.
“Our goal is to out-rebound them, which actually didn’t happen, but we really tried to be scrappy and get those 50/50 balls,” Cleary said.
The last few minutes of the fourth quarter saw an increase in motivation for both teams to try to stay ahead. As the final buzzer sounded, the teams remained in a 59-59 deadlock, forcing a five-minute overtime period.
“We just kept playing and we all kind of dug into the little energy we had left,” Bush said.
“I think we definitely need to keep our focus where it is, we’re heading to playoffs right now,” Bush continued. “We can’t be satisfied with this win, we’ve got to keep going and keep focusing on our end goal.”
Charles said he would have liked to see his team take the win without having to go to overtime.
“We had chances to finish them out and we didn’t finish them out,” Charles said. “We got a little bit tight in the end and we can’t get tight.”
However, a win is still a win.
“It’s nice to get revenge,” Cleary said.
