SYDNEY — The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team won the U Sports final 8 championship on Sunday, defeating the Queen’s Gaels 71-59.
Overcoming a first-half deficit, the Ravens battled back in a lopsided third quarter, downing the Gaels by 13 points.
The women’s basketball championship was followed by a victory from Carleton’s men’s basketball team, who defeated Saint Francis Xavier University in Halifax, N.S.
The pair of wins marks the first time since 1985 that a school’s basketball program has won both men’s and women’s nationals in the same season.
Under the intense coaching of Dani Sinclair, the Ravens have battled the Gaels all season long. The teams played each other three times before Sunday’s final, with Carleton winning two games and Queen’s winning one.
The number of games between the top-rated teams has created a rivalry in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division.
In the OUA, the Gaels took the first sip of success as they achieved the No. 1 rank heading into playoffs.
But Carleton did one better. The Ravens beat the Gaels in the OUA finals to win the Critelli Cup in Queen’s home gym, the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC).
Before Sunday’s game, Toronto Metropolitan Bold head coach Carly Clarke said it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, let alone three times in a row.
It was something that was on the Ravens’ minds as well. Forward Emma Kiesekamp said she thought about the difficult task, but didn’t think Queen’s would offer anything new.
“I wasn’t fearful that they had anything else to pull out,” Kiesekamp said. “We’ve seen it all already, we’ve seen everything they have for us.”
That wasn’t apparent in the first half of the game when Queen’s led the Ravens 31 to 26 and outperformed Carleton in rebounds, field goal percentage and shots beyond the arc.
It’s after the break when things went downhill for Queen’s, as it often does for many teams when the Ravens become the third-quarter killers.
“The third quarter killers,” that’s my nickname for the Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team.
— Jayden R. Dill (@JaydenDill) March 13, 2023
The Ravens increased their field goal percentage from 23.5 per cent in the first half to 42.1 per cent in the third. They nearly doubled their first half rebound total with 15, surpassing the Gaels’ 10 for the quarter.
“It’s our third quarters that do it for us,” Sinclair said. “There’s a reset at halftime where you can make some adjustments, but we’re also in front of our bench [on defence] … we’re getting a lot of momentum from our defence so having them play defence in front of us makes a huge difference”
While the Ravens’ offensive performance often improves in the third, Sunday’s defensive display is the real headline. Carleton limited Queen’s to seven points and 8.3 per cent shooting from field goal range.
Going one for 12 from the field while shooting blanks from beyond the arc really affected the Gaels, according to head coach Claire Meadows. She said Queen’s felt Carleton “increase their defensive pressure.”
But stats and numbers aside, Kiesekamp summarizes it in simpler terms.
“We came out in the third quarter and smacked them,” she said.
Sunday’s game reflects the ongoing relationship between Queen’s and Carleton. Just how Queen’s won the first half battle is similar to the Gael’s victory over the Ravens in the fall.
But the team’s third-quarter collapse reflects the rest of the season matchups — when the Ravens won the next three contests.
No matter what Queen’s does, they’re always one-upped by Carleton.
However, the championship and all the victories don’t convince Sinclair her team is No. 1 in the nation.
“I’ve been doing this long enough to know that winning the championship means you were the best team on that weekend,” Sinclair said.
If winning the national championship doesn’t make her side the best team, then what does? It’s a question only Sinclair can answer, but after yesterday’s win, she wasn’t in the mood to discuss new expectations.
“The standard always raises but I’m not thinking about that right now,” Sinclair said. “I have no thoughts about the future, I’m just going to enjoy the win today.”
Featured image by Jayden R. Dill.
