The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball season came to an end after losing to the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks 70-65 in double overtime on March 8 in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) bronze medal game.
It was a tug-of-war all afternoon. Neither team was able to control the tempo long enough to take a commanding lead.
The second overtime opened with the score tied at 63, but Laurier pulled ahead with 1:30 left and never looked back. The Ravens tried fouling its opponents to stop the clock, but the Golden Hawks hit their free throws, sealing the game.
“Overtime’s a grind, we felt like we left everything out there, but sometimes you just don’t come out with the win,” Ravens fifth-year guard Elizabeth Roach said.
“It was a tough game, Laurier’s a great team,” she said.
Golden Hawks second-year guard Kaitlyn Schenck had 16 points in the game.
“It was crazy, you could feel the energy coming off the bench, there was screaming, every play, every loose ball, every turnover, it was amazing,” she said.
Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said nerves may have gotten to his team near the end of the game, but ultimately it was a matter of execution.
“We just didn’t make plays, we weren’t good enough today,” he said.
In the week leading up to the game, both Roach and Schenck said they predicted a defensive struggle out of the gate.
“We knew they had really good players that we’d need to stop,” Schenck said. “Mentally, we just prepared to stay positive. We knew they would go on runs and we would go on runs and it’d be a tight game.”
The first half saw plenty of fouls and points were difficult to come by for both teams, with Ravens first-year guard McKenzie Sigurdson tying it up at 19 with 10 seconds left in the first half.
Roach kept up her season-long stellar play with 20 points and 19 rebounds in the game. First-year guard Stephanie Carr finished second on the team with 13 points.
Play opened up after the break, both teams came roaring out of the locker room, scoring 44 points each in the second half.
“In the first half, both teams played hard, really tight defence and I think that [in the second half] offensively, when we get those easy rebounds and easy put-backs we’re able to transition that into getting a faster paced game,” Schenck said.
This was the last game in a Ravens uniform for Roach, the winner of the OUA East player of the year award.
“It was obviously emotional. This is a great team with great coaches and I’m just happy to have been able to be part of it for the past five years,” she said.
Charles said it was unfortunate they couldn’t get the win to move on to the CIS championships.
“It’s a little unfortunate we couldn’t get it done for [Roach], but then again, she’s had a great career,” Charles said.
Fans had a chance to see the bright future for women’s basketball at Carleton. Carr and Sigurdson were on the floor for key moments during the overtime period, scoring crucial baskets and filling in when Roach was covered.
Charles said the off-season will allow the team to regroup and prepare for another run next year.
“We’ll get better,” he said. “We’re going to get back to work.”
