After defeating the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in a double overtime thriller Jan. 26, the Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team sealed another frantic overtime victory three days later, this time with a 66-65 win over the Queen’s Golden Gaels.

With the win, the Ravens remain atop the Ontario University Athletics East with a four-point lead over the University of Toronto.

The Ravens, who have now won 11 straight games, struggled to handle the Golden Gaels’ accurate shooting from the opening tip-off Jan. 29 at the Ravens’ Nest.

Queen’s took the early lead with leading scorer Brittany Moore sinking two quick three-pointers to peg the Ravens back.
 
But the Ravens started to find some rhythm at the end of the first frame with fourth-year forward Ashleigh Cleary beating the buzzer to tie the game at 18 apiece.

The second quarter was much of the same as Queen’s sank another four three pointers, keeping Carleton entrenched in their own end of the court.

“We didn’t try that hard,” said Ravens head coach Taffe Charles, less than impressed with the Ravens first half display. “They came out much more hungry than we did. They wanted it more than we did and we got outworked.”

Carleton’s offence struggled with agonizing misses from graduating guard Courtney Smith and second-year guard Elizabeth Roach. However, the Ravens made the most of the Golden Gaels’ aggressive play, gaining over a third of their points from the free throw line. The Ravens ended the half three points back of Queen’s and in need of inspiration.

The inspiration was apparent after half with the Ravens storming out to take the lead 37-36.

Buoyed by their early lead, Carleton started to show their trademark defence in the third quarter, limiting Queen’s to single digit scoring for the first time in the game.

But the Ravens never hit full flight as they struggled to continue their offensive surge in the fourth. Queen’s started sinking shots from the corners, bringing an air of nervousness to the game.

“We’re really young in some spots and made a lot of mistakes at the end,” Charles said.

“I want us to get better,” he added. “That’s the process, I want us to get better.”

The Ravens watched their lead dwindle in the fourth until Golden Gaels rookie forward Gemma Bullard sank both her free throws, sending the game to overtime tied at 59.

Carleton’s lack of offensive pressure came back to haunt them as the Gaels took an early lead in the extra frame.

But with less than 30 seconds left, third-year guard Kendall MacLeod stepped up to the line and won the game for the home team, sending the Ravens fans into raptures.

MacLeod said improvements have to be made for their upcoming road trip.

“We have to get our defence back down and get our game going again.”

The Ravens gave up 20 offensive rebounds on the night, a regular season high for the team.