Even halfway across the country, the Carleton University Ravens and University Ottawa Gee-Gee’s can’t seem to get away from one another.
The two city rivals flew out to Regina for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) women’s basketball championship this weekend, and were looking to showcase their skills first-hand against some of Canada’s other top teams.
Instead, what they got was another meeting with one another.
After meeting twice in the regular season, then once more in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East playoffs, the two teams battled March 16 for one last time.
And they saved their best for last, literally.
Fueled by a dominant fourth quarter, the Gee-Gee’s roared back from a 15-point deficit to claim a memorable 52-51 victory that was decided after the Ravens missed a last second buzzer-beater.
“Our kids just hoped to win in the fourth quarter. They just wanted things to go well instead of actually making them go well,” a visibly disappointed head coach Taffe Charles said after the game.
The mood was significantly lighter on the Gee-Gee’s bench after the game.
“It was a great comeback, the girls never lost belief. I thought it was one character play after another, particularly in the last five minutes,” head coach Andy Sparks said.
Not only did the two teams have to travel nearly four hours to play each other— as opposed to the ten minutes they are used to— they were forced to play in a contest that neither had any interest in at the start of the competition.
By virtue of the their opening round losses to the University of Calgary and the University of Windsor, respectively, the two Ottawa-based clubs dropped down into the consolation portion of the competition.
And in the opening quarter, it was clear this game lacked the intensity of those from the previous day.
A sluggish first ten minutes saw the two clubs shoot a combined 3-25 from the field, as the Gee-Gee’s held a slim 8-6 lead going into the second frame.
But Carleton came out of the short break looking like a completely different squad.
The Ravens began the quarter with a 10-1 run, ultimately outscoring their counterparts 25-6 in the frame.
Back-to-back three’s from Lindsay Shotbolt and Darcy Hawkins even saw Taffe Charles smiling for what seemed like the first time all weekend. As Hawkins’ three rippled the mesh, Charles responded with a fist-pump on the sidelines.
After being unable to knock down anything for over 50 minutes, Carleton shot 59 per cent from the field and took a commanding 31-14 lead into the locker room.
This was the team Charles was used to seeing all season long.
“We did some good things, we moved the ball really well and shot it well in that quarter,” he said.
With only ten minutes left to play, it looked as though the Ravens had the game locked up with a double-digit lead. Even midway through the quarter, the Gee-Gee’s were still trailing by a dozen.
Standout forward Jenna Gilbert hit a three.
Fellow forward Tatiana Hanlan – who finished with a team-high 13 points – came down on the next possession and knocked down another.
The Gee-Gees’ fans, who had been quiet all afternoon, were suddenly drowning out the Ravens contingent in the crowd.
They believed in the upset. So did the players. Each Gee-Gee’s basket saw the bench erupt.
At the other end, Carleton continued to struggle. The smiles on the Ravens faces that were so common earlier had disappeared.
“We got really tentative, then we got really nervous and then we got really scared,” Charles said of his team, who scored only five points in the final frame.
After Ottawa came all the way back and took the lead for the first time since the opening quarter, Carleton had one last chance with 9.2 seconds left on the clock— and potentially, in their season.
After racing up the court following a missed Ottawa free-throw, the ball fell to fifth-year forward Kendall MacLeod.
It was perfectly set up for the Brockville native to cap off her impressive Carleton career. She made a quick move at the top of the three-point line and drove to the basket.
Without time to set her feet, she launched a running, one-handed shot towards the rim.
It hung in the air. Then, agonizingly, it hit the side of the rim.
The Gee-Gees rejoiced, while the Ravens players stood with their heads in their hands, almost in disbelief.
A season that had so much promise was over. In her final game as a Raven, Bush fittingly led the team with 16 points.
“Obviously we’ve been successful. But our goal was to win a national championship and we fell short of that,” Charles said.
“I like to think that’s a reflection of where our program is because that has become our expectation,” he continued. “But ultimately, we fell short of our goal, even if it was a lofty one.”
The heart-wrenching result means Carleton remains winless at the national championship tournament, as they also lost both contests they last competed at the competition in 2010.
Then, like now, the Ravens finished tied for seventh spot.
