The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team extended two streaks when they took to the court against the Queen’s University Golden Gaels Feb. 1 in Kingston.
With a crushing victory over the Golden Gaels 90-54, the Ravens extended their winning streak to seven games. The Ravens’ last loss came on Jan. 4, the first game back after the winter break, when they lost to the Laurentian University Voyageurs, 61-57.
On the other end of the court, the loss for the Golden Gaels was their fifth loss in a row as they continue to slide down the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East standings, now in fifth place.
The Ravens are hitting their stride at the right time and they are currently sitting in sole possession of first place in the OUA East with 28 points, two points ahead of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.
With the Ravens beating the visiting injury-plagued Queen’s Golden Gaels on Jan. 19, the Ravens wanted to show in the most recent matchup that they could do it again, and they most definitely did.
“The game was definitely one of our better games all season,” Ravens first-year forward Lindsay Shotbolt said. “We communicated very well and passed the ball better than we have done all season. Our defence was amazing and we worked well transitioning it into offence.”
“This was our second time playing Queen’s and we wanted to prove to them that we could beat them again, so we worked as hard as we could, and we were able to do that.”
Veteran guard Alyson Bush and Shotbolt led the way for the Ravens with 18 points and 15 points respectively. The Ravens led the game right from the start, but exploded in the fourth quarter outscoring the Golden Gaels 30-7 in the final frame.
“We played well and pushed the pace early which bettered our transition game. We quickly got our transition game going and that leads us to higher scores, as it did in this game,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said.
The Ravens will be returning home for their next two games, and will then close out the season with a visit to the second-place Ottawa Gee-Gees.
“Away games are tough because of the amount of travelling and the different atmosphere. We need to get up early to do a shoot around to get a feel for the gym, and we get to the hotel late, so tiredness is definitely a factor,” Shotbolt said.
“We are playing well, but going into the playoffs and in order to win nationals we must prepare, compete, and play with confidence,” Charles said.
The Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) fifth-ranked Ravens look to continue their winning streak against the Ryerson University Rams and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, Feb. 8-9 at the Ravens’ Nest.
“We are buckling down and working as hard as we can for the last games of the season, as we are trying to work on the road to nationals,” Shotbolt said.
