The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team extended their undefeated season to 18-0 after victories over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Ryerson Rams.
After this weekend, Carleton is the only undefeated team remaining in U Sports and is ranked second in the country for women’s basketball.
The Ravens beat the Varsity Blues 72-54, coming back after a slow start where they trailed 20-19 after one quarter.
Toronto’s Keyira Parks got her team out on front with a three-pointer and a jump shot off a turnover to make it 9-2. She finished with 19 points and four rebounds in the game.
Carleton called timeout and following Cynthia Dupont’s three-pointer the lead was cut to 15-10. Soon after, she drove and finished a layup late in the first quarter, two of her team-leading 16 points off the bench.
The Ravens defence turned it on in the second quarter, holding Toronto a mere three points as they went into a comfortable lead. Carleton had three blocks in the second quarter and capitalized on forced turnovers.
The team also had 15 assists compared to Toronto’s 10. Alexandra Triveri found a cutting Elizabeth Leblanc for a layup while Jenjen Abella dished to Leblanc as she finished at the rim.
Leblanc also got into the ball movement action as she drove and sent a pass to Dupont for an open three ball to make it 40-25.
Carleton continued their display of ball movement as in one possession in the fourth, where the ball swung from Abella to Catherine Traer to Gilmore for an uncontested layup. Gilmore added two steals and scores at the end of the match.
“A lot of it was just our focus,” Ravens forward Heather Lindsay noted of the team’s “slow start.”
“Once we refocused and we communicated how we were going to guard their plays, I thought we did a way better job shutting them down for the rest of the game,” she added.
The Ravens got off to a better start against Ryerson the following night as they prevailed 55-43 thanks to another tenacious defensive performance with 10 blocks and eight steals.
Ryerson took an early 4-3 lead as Leyki Sorri layup off a turnover after Lindsay’s layup to open the game. Leblanc and Traer found each other on multiple plays to push Carleton into the lead as the Ravens team play continued (11 assists compared to Ryerson’s six).
Leblanc dished to Traer for a three while Abella found Stephanie Carr beyond the arc to make it 13-6. Cara Tiemens scored on Lindsay to make it 15-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Lindsay scored off an inbound play to make it 21-12, as she contributed nine points and 16 rebounds. Traer knocked down another three-pointer off a hand-off from Leblanc.
Traer led Carleton’s defence with five blocks and three steals, including one on Tiemens in the third. The Ravens saw their 10-point lead cut down to 35-30 after two Chloe Mago free throws.
However, Carleton went on a run, capped off by an Abella three-pointer to restore a 50-37 lead.
Lindsay said getting out in transition is a focus as they do 14-second shot clock drills in transition.
“At the end of the day, if you just keep it random and move the ball quickly, it’s really hard to defend in transition, especially when it’s going really fast,” she said.
“It’s all about finding the open person and moving the ball up,” Lindsay said, attributing their open looks to pushing the pace.
The Ravens take on the Ottawa Gee-Gees at the Capital Hoops Classic on Feb. 2.
Photo by Meagan Casalino
