The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team defeated the Nipissing Lakers 65-51 Nov.11 and won a close game 69-63 against Laurentian Voyageurs Nov. 12.
The pair of weekend wins continued the Ravens’ undefeated start to the season, advancing their record to 4-0 at the time.
Friday Nov. 11: Ravens versus Nipissing Lakers
Saturday Nov. 12: Ravens versus Laurentian Voyageurs
Friday Nov. 11: Ravens versus Nipissing Lakers
Guard Teresa Donato scored 17 points off the bench while guard Kali Pocrnic and forward Kinley Rice combined for 20 points, leading the Ravens to a 65-51 win over the Nipissing Lakers.
“I thought Rice and Kyana Poulin were great for us from start to finish,” Ravens’ head coach Dani Sinclair said. “They set the tone at the defensive end, they had a great week of practice and it translated into the game.”
The Ravens’ defence locked in for the second half, allowing 22 points to secure the victory. Prior to the break, the Ravens held the Lakers to 32.8 per cent from the field and 16.7 per cent from three-point range.
In transition the Ravens scored 26 points from 20 Nipissing turnovers, another shout to their defensive stability. The Ravens, who scored 28 points from close range, also held the Lakers to 12 points in the paint.
On the offensive side, the Ravens were firing on all cylinders, nearly doubling the Lakers’ three-point percentage with 31 per cent and hitting 46 per cent of all their shots.
The Ravens’ bench was critical to their success, scoring 29 points compared to the Lakers’ 15 bench points. Donato led the second unit and was praised by Sinclair.
“She’s getting back in the gym and working on her game outside of the regular schedule,” Sinclair said. “She’s doing it on her own time and there’s no secret to success, you just put the time in and she’s done that.”
Despite the scoreline, the Lakers had a solid first half and started out with an early 13-4 lead. At halftime, Carleton led 31-29 with Jacqueline Urban hitting two free throws to give the Ravens their first lead of the game.
The third quarter was the turning point, the Ravens outscored the Lakers 16-7 in a tight, defensive frame. The 11-point lead at the end of the third quarter was something the Ravens did not give it back.
Saturday Nov. 12: Ravens versus Laurentian Voyageurs
Coming into the match, Sinclair credited Laurentian’s basketball organization and said the Ben F. Avery Gymnasium is a “tough place to play.”
“Our goal every night is to make people do what they don’t want to do,” Sinclair said. “We didn’t do that tonight. It was a battle of wills at times.”
The Voyageurs had a good offensive outing despite the loss, moving the ball well and spreading it around to create open shots. They recorded 23 assists on 26 made field goals and shot 43.3 per cent from the field.
The Ravens were outrebounded 36-30 and were outmatched in the paint. The Voyageurs were physical when driving to the rim and used their passing to create open looks from high-percentage areas.
“Throughout the whole game, except the third quarter, we let [the Voyageurs] do what they do well. We know that’s what they want to do and we allowed their top players to get into the paint and shoot over us,” Sinclair said.
Pocrnic played well on both sides of the floor. In addition to being the game’s leading scorer, she also recorded eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals, while shooting 66.7 per cent from beyond the arc.
The Ravens shot an impressive 13/28 from beyond the arc, hitting the three-pointer at a 46.4 per cent clip. Pocrnic made six three-pointers. Credit goes to the Ravens off-ball movement and good use of screens to open up shooting lanes as they recorded an assist on 18 of their 23 field goals.
The Ravens’ defence came out of halftime revitalized. After allowing a handful of open threes in the second quarter which extended the Voyageurs’ lead, they tightened up on the perimeter. The Voyageurs were limited to only 26 per cent from beyond the arc. In addition, the Ravens created 22 turnovers which led to 20 points in transition.
The Ravens gave the Voyageurs less space to operate, contested more of their shots and forced them into much more difficult shot attempts, which prevented them from finding a rhythm.
“They’re a good team and they get people on the ball in good spots where they are tough to defend,” Sinclair said. “They were hard to defend in that first quarter and we settled in and kept it close until halftime and then turned it on offensively in the third quarter.”
The Ravens took advantage and heated up for 39 second-half points. Oceane Kounkou came off the bench and hit a few huge threes to give the Ravens the lead.
After exchanging back-and-forth baskets, Pocrnic hit three dagger three-pointers in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Pocrnic also scored 13 of the Ravens’ 18 fourth-quarter points.
The Ravens lost their first game of the season last Saturday against Queen’s and will look to bounce back Friday when they take on the Windsor Lancers at the Raven’s Nest.
Featured image by Veronica Carvalho.
