Ravens represent Carleton at women’s basketball

 

The Carleton Ravens varsity women’s basketball team was well represented at the May 9 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) All-Star Game with a forward and a point guard suiting up for the East, aiding in a 77-64 victory over Ontario West.

 

Raven point guard and captain Tanya Perry, 22, along with forward Ines Jelic, 23, took to the court in the first OUA women’s basketball all-star game played in their university careers. 

 

While Perry was selected as an all-star last year, the May 9 showcase game was the first time in recent memory the province’s top 10 players for each side got together to tip off against each other.

“This was the first year [the OUA] decided to do the game,” said Perry.

 

“They wanted to promote women’s basketball in Ontario. Many girls go to the States to play and they wanted to promote staying to play in Ontario,” she said. “We were kind of playing a showcase for the girls to come watch. It was a good game to watch. It was exciting to play in.”

 

The OUA All-Star Game was the Saturday night main attraction. They played in front of a packed house at RIM Park in Waterloo where 97 teams assembled to take part in the weekend-long Under 17 and Under 19 Girls Ontario Basketball Provincial Championships.

 

“It was an amazing experience for me to be part of the all-star team and to represent Carleton,” Jelic said. “It was great fun, just sharing with my teammate and our coach was there. We’ve been playing against these players all year and now we actually get a chance to play with them.”

 

David Kent, manager of marketing and communications for Carleton Athletics, said this is not the first time a Carleton female basketball player has played in an all-star game.

 

Rosie Warden played in an all-star game in the 1990s, but having two players selected now is “great publicity” for the Carleton program and he hopes this honour bodes well for the next season.

 

“From a communications stand point, the program had its best season ever since the modern OUA/CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) format came into play in approximately 1980,” wrote Kent in an e-mail interview. “Going to the OUA East ‘Final 4’ for a second straight year, winning 14 league games and hosting and winning a post-season game are all great signs of the future.”

 

While Jelic said she hopes another all-star game is held next year and that she has a part to play in it, the focus now shifts to getting ready for next season and improving on an already great Ravens’ tem game.