The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team captured the Helen Campbell tournament on Sept. 30. despite a familiar flight delay on their way there.
Carleton beat the University of Waterloo Warriors, the Saint Mary’s University Huskies and the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Varsity Reds to take home the title, despite not arriving at Fredericton, N.B. until just after one in the morning—the day of the first game.
The Ravens flight was also delayed to Regina for the national championships in March, leaving at 6 a.m. and arriving at just past 1 a.m.
“It was ridiculous,” first-year forward Emma Huff said. “We spent eight and a half hours at the airport in Quebec City and—I kid you not—there was two places to eat and it’s not great food. There was not even a Tim Hortons—take that in.”
It only added to their feeling of resilience, according to Huff.
“That’s what [head coach Taffe Charles] was saying: We’re a resilient crew here. We know all about these crap traveling times,” she said. “I thought it was funny.”
Charles said the delay wasn’t an excuse but noted it did contribute to the Ravens’ slow start in their first game against Waterloo on Sept. 28, as they fell behind 29-21 at halftime. Carleton bounced back—led by point guard Madison Reid’s 15 points off the bench—to win 67-55.
Carleton came back again against Saint Mary’s on Sept. 29 to prevail 55-52 thanks to a 23-point fourth quarter by the Ravens. The team would later beat UNB 62-38 the following day to capture the title.
“Our first two games were a little bit more difficult,” Huff said. “I think we’re still learning to play, of course. Everyone’s in new roles this year.”
Huff played through—in her own words—three seasons of lots of losing at Champlain College-Lennoxville. She said it was “positive” and “nice to get the wins, for sure” in Fredericton.
Charles said the team made “a lot of progress” throughout the weekend as everyone continued figuring out their roles.
It also gave veterans Nicole Gilmore and Cynthia Dupont a chance to step into greater leadership positions on and off the court.
“Thank God that Cynthia and Nicole came back,” Charles said. “I think they’re really doing a lot of the things behind the scenes that are helping the rookies and helping the people that haven’t been here.”
Dupont and Gilmore, co-captains, went to collect the trophy after their win against UNB.
“The other thing too, though we talked about with them, was they got to play better,” Charles said. “That’s the biggest thing. You got to lead on the floor and I thought that they started playing much better in the third game.”
Charles also highlighted three players he thinks can make big improvements this year: Reid, Emma Kiesekamp and Alyssa Cerino.
“I think they’ve got the physical ability to play at this level and I think both of them have all-star potential in the future,” he said about Reid and Kiesekamp.
The second-year Ottawa natives both played at Ottawa Elite before coming to Carleton and saw a career-high in minutes this weekend. Kiesekamp was also named a tournament all-star.
Cerino, who was named tournament MVP, is another player who has to adjust to getting more playing time, according to Charles.
“She played more minutes and she got in foul trouble,” he said. “When you’re on the bench, you can get fouls more . . . now, when you’re a starter, you got to be economical with your fouls and be better and more proactive.”
Charles, who said the intensity level is a key focus, also noted that Reid is “learning how to be a point guard.”
“All the kids struggle with the intensity level and the competitive level and I believe that [Reid’s] working towards that as well,” he said. “A lot of those guys, [especially] those three, definitely are doing different roles and they got to produce for us for this team to win.”
The Ravens will look to continue their undefeated streak in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) exhibition play when they face the Concordia Stingers on Oct. 19.
File photo
