Alyssa Cerino, Ravens women’s basketball forward, and Nicole Gilmore, Ravens women’s basketball guard, finished off their seasons by playing in their first Ontario University Athletics (OUA) all-star game.
The match on May 4 pitted Cerino—on coach Theresa Burns’ team—and Gilmore—coach Michele Belanger—against each other.
“I found it funny to play against Nicole,” Cerino said.
She said it was fun and that the all-star game is good for women’s basketball, especially to showcase the top players in the league.
“We’re both competitive people,” Gilmore said. “So, obviously as the game was getting tighter and further down the stretch, obviously both teams really wanted to win.”
Burns’s team won 81-80 after a game-winning shot by McMaster forward Linnaea Harper, after a pass by Cerino.
Cerino added it was “really cool” to build chemistry and make plays as a team throughout the game, given the lack of familiarity beforehand.
It was also Gilmore’s final game in a Ravens jersey and also a chance to celebrate her birthday early close to home—she’s from Burlington.
“It’s weird to put the jersey on for one last time,” Gilmore said of her final game. “I’ll never wear a Carleton jersey again so that’s bittersweet.”
The game provided an opportunity for both players to interact with players they usually line up against.
“It was different for sure to see all the players you’ve played against all season in a different aspect,” Gilmore said.
“All the girls on my team were super nice. We all talked,” Cerino said. “We all got to get to know each other.”
The game also gave them a chance to reflect on the past. Cerino played against former Windsor teammate and roommate Tyra Blizzard, although she said she wished they were on the same team.
“It’s exciting. I’m glad that even though we’re not in the same school anymore, we’re still get to share these experiences together,” Cerino said. “When we were in first year, we were excited for things like this, experiences like this, together.”
It provided a glimpse for Gilmore of what it could have been like being coached by University of Toronto (U of T) coach Belanger.
“It was one of the schools that I was thinking about before Carleton so I was kind of picturing, ‘oh this is what it could have been.’ So, it was nice to see her in that coaching setting,” Gilmore said.
Cerino is entering the final season of her OUA career, after two years in Windsor and two at Carleton, including an OUA and national title in 2017-18. She’s been training in the offseason in Stoney Creek with lifting, cardio and individual workouts.
“We have an app we can follow, which is nice for girls like me who are away from home,” she said. “I just follow the workouts and sometimes I just add in a couple of extra workouts.”
She’s also coming off her first (third-team) all-star recognition, with time ticking on her university career.
“I always thought about this in my earlier years … your fifth year, it seems so far away,” she recalled.
“Once it comes, I’m like ‘oh my god, I can’t believe I only have one more year left.’ I honestly wish I could play university basketball forever if that was possible, or even had one more [additional] year left.”
For the time being, she is adjusting to the post student-athlete life, but won’t have to deal with “heavy” challenge for long.
“It’s different just because I’m still training and practising for basketball, but if I’m working late … I’ll have to miss basketball, where it’s kind of optional in that sense, whereas I’m so used to it being a mandatory thing.”
Cerino said she has thought about playing professionally, as well as planning to go to teacher’s college.
“I love kids, so I want to be a teacher,” she said.
Photo by Neil Gunner
