The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team climbed to the highest rank in the program’s history Jan. 25, settling into fourth place in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Top 10 rankings.
The 13-2 Ravens moved up two spots from the previous week’s ranking and are currently behind their Ontario University Athletics rivals, the University of Windsor Lancers and the University of Western Ontario Mustangs. The Lancers and the Mustangs sit second and third, respectively, and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies held onto their position as the top-ranked team in the country for the second week in a row.
Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said this week’s fourth-place ranking marks only the second time the Ravens have cracked the top 10. They peaked at No. 8 last season.
“We’re very organized and we have a lot of character,” Charles said of this season’s squad.
Third-year guard Alyson Bush said she was happy with the ranking, but the team is pushing for more.
“It’s definitely very exciting to be fourth in the country,” she acknowledged. “It’s something that we’ve worked towards, but we have some things to work on.”
“Our goal is to win nationals,” Bush added. “We definitely want to keep pushing and reach new levels.”
Both Charles and Bush attributed the Ravens’ strength to their sense of unity as a team.
“We don’t have a whole bunch of superstars on the team,” Charles said. “But we do actually play as a basketball team. It’s not one [sole] individual, it’s Carleton University basketball.”
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