The Laurentian Voyageurs’ 4-11 record heading into the Ravens’ Nest on Jan. 24 inspired little confidence that the team would challenge the Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team’s undefeated record.
Despite emerging with a 69-48 loss, the Voyageurs found themselves with some early hope. Early in the second quarter, they held an unexpected lead against the OUA’s best team.
To earn that lead, Laurentian first had to climb out of an 11-point hole that Carleton dug for them off the first whistle. After holding Laurentian off the board for nearly the first six minutes of the first quarter, the Ravens’ hot start soon fizzled out.
Voyageurs guard Megan Axiak gave her team their first lead of the game less than a minute into the second frame, putting the Ravens down 18-17.
“I think we stopped playing after the first two minutes of the game,” Ravens head coach Dani Sinclair said. “We weren’t even playing particularly well, especially on offence, we weren’t really executing. They were able to capitalize and make some shots.”
But the Ravens turned things around, with guard Dorcas Buisa drawing foul after foul as she drove the ball to the paint on almost every play. Laurentian was booked for 10 fouls in the second quarter alone, forcing a rapid rotation of players on their bench to keep much of their roster from fouling out of the game.
Buisa scored five of 14 free throws on the night, thanks to her efforts in the paint.
“I think she’s drawing the fouls really well, she’s just not hitting the free throws,” Sinclair said, chuckling.
Buisa struggled to hit her free throws against Laurentian, but her defensive contributions outweighed her 11-point game total.
“She does a great job of managing the game,” Sinclair said. “But that’s a lot of pressure to do that for 30 to 35 minutes a game and that’s a big responsibility when you’re also having to do as much as she does on the defensive end.”
Laurentian had their own star in forward Emilie Lafond who sits second in OUA scoring. Lafond led the Voyageurs’ offence through a 16-point second quarter.
Lafond’s aggressive play and 6-foot-3 frame posed a new challenge for the undefeated Ravens.
“She’s a big player and she’s got good touch around the rim, so that was one person that we knew we had to try to take away,” Ravens guard Noelle Kilbreath said. “She’s a good player and she played well tonight, so hats off to her.”
Ravens guard Tatyanna Burke managed to draw one more foul from the visitors with just a tenth of a second before the half. She sank both to put her team up 42-29.
Like Buisa, Burke also made a point of driving the paint. She capitalized on seven of eight free-throw attempts on the night and scored a game-high 13 points.
“Because it was such a physical game, making free throws was something we needed,” Burke said.
In the third quarter, the Ravens pulled away with a 57-36 lead thanks to tight defensive play on the other end, holding Laurentian to just seven points.
“I thought there were moments on defence where we really talked,” Sinclair said. “We understood how to both pressure the ball and play in the gaps and make them play to their weak hand and just take away [Lafond], obviously she’s somebody that you have to try to manage.”
The Ravens scored 46 of their 69 total points on gritty plays in the paint — 20 points from the resulting free throws and 26 points from baskets when driving the paint.
“That was a tough, physical game and a lot of respect for Laurentian and how hard they played,” Sinclair said.
After winning their following matchup 72-57 against the Nipissing Lakers on Jan. 25, the Ravens carry a 17-0 record into their next matchup at home on Jan. 31 against the 1-15 Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.
Featured photo by Murray Oliver/the Charlatan.
