After rebounding from a slow start, Ravens still working on mentality

The Carleton women’s basketball team bounced back from two slow starts to beat the University of Waterloo Warriors and Wilfred Laurier University Golden Hawks on Nov. 1 and 2. 

Carleton fell behind early to Waterloo in their season opener – trailing 17-13 after one quarter – but made a push in the second. Their defence held Waterloo to seven points in the second as they had numerous players contributing to the eventual 74-45 win.

“Coming into it, our practices weren’t sharp and it reflected in our start,” Ravens head coach Brian Cheng said. He added the team was practicing at 80 to 90 per cent sharpness but needs to get to 100. 

“We weren’t really being super competitive and it’s all about respecting your opponents,” said guard Madison Reid on the practices. “Our [group] shoot this morning, we could definitely tell that something was off.”

Alyssa Cerino led the way with 22 points while Marlee Ball (11), Emma Kiesekamp (10) and rookies Tatyanna Burke (9) and Kali Pocrnic (9) followed. 

For Pocrnic, Kiesekamp and Ball, it represented a good performance shooting the basketball and a reminder that it’s a constant process to shoot consistently.

“Balance and being athletic in your execution and having your index…middle finger finish,” Cheng said of shooting. “It’s pretty simple here and we try and keep it simple for the ladies…and they’ve been responding.”

Kiesekamp hit a three-pointer for her first basket of the season after only making one-of-six three-pointers all of last season. “I’ve been working on it and I feel a lot more confident,” the third-year forward said. 

“I think I’ve always had a decent form,” she added. “It was just a mental game. It was just like knowing I’m going to be confident and I’m not going to waver. If I’m open, I’m going to shoot. I’m not going to hesitate.”

Pocrnic was another who did well, hitting three-of-six from beyond the arc. Cheng said she’s found some regular shooting for now after being an inconsistent shooter, adding that “shooting’s quite elusive.”

“It’s hard on the mind,” Pocrnic said. She’s worked with Cheng to adjust her form and starting spot for shooting. “It was more honestly my feet and also the littlest thing with the position of my ball,” she noted. 

Reid – one of the top shooters on the team – said she responds to bad shooting performances by getting in the gym and shooting more. “As long as there’s nothing different about your [shooting] stroke, it’s just in your head,” she added. 

The following night, the Ravens also got off to a slow start, falling behind 20-8 after 10 minutes. They made a run to close the gap, but the Golden Hawks kept the game close. 

Laurier had a chance to win it in the dying seconds but guard Brianna Iannazzo turned the ball over as Carleton prevailed 60-59. 

Cerino said the veterans take accountability for the slow starts. “Honestly, it’s just focus and trying to get that momentum on our side early,” she said.

Looking back at film to review what happened will be important moving forward. 

“I don’t think we’re coming out with enough respect on our opponents,” said Cheng. “We’re trying right now and we got to start willing…we’re trying to win a game. We got to start willing.” 

Part of willing is defending as a team right away, he pointed out. 

“We got to attack on defence. We got to give you nothing…we got to own the ball, take pride in keeping the ball in front of us and forcing it to their weaknesses.”

Ball was one of the players who had a notable performance with 14 points, five rebounds – including key shots in the second half. Cheng said she’s been gaining confidence throughout the pre-season. 

“Through that confidence, we can depend on a certain amount of production from her and we’re getting good production from her,” he said. “I think she’s stabilized in terms of where she’s at.”

Cerino also touched on Ball’s improvement, especially considering she redshirted last season. 

“She knows how good she can be and I think it’s been good for her so far these past few games,” she said. 

Moving forward, the team needs to work smarter as the coaches also need to “keep doing a better job” according to Cheng. 

“The knife is sharper when we come attack and we have to build that mentality of attack or be attacked,” he added. “We got to throw the first punches.”

The Ravens will be looking for better starts when they hit the road on Nov. 8 and 9 to take on the Queen’s Gaels and the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.

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Feature image by Jeff Pelletier. With Files from Tim Austen.