The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team’s tough defence edged out the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees in a 57-44 victory during the 11th annual Capital Hoops Classic at the Canadian Tire Centre on Feb. 3.
Ravens guard Nicole Gilmore put the Carleton offence as her 19 points led the team over their crosstown rivals.
The win marked the Ravens’ second consecutive win at the Capital Hoops Classic and 14th consecutive regular season victory.
Carleton forward Heather Lindsay, opened up the scoring with the games first bucket, as the Ravens scored on their first possession. U of O’s defence came out strong however, limiting Lindsay’s inside presence early in the game.
Gee-Gees guard Jennifer Crowe hit two early jumpers to put U of O up 8-5.
After a time out by Ravens head coach Taffe Charles, the Ravens went on a 11-0 run to take a commanding 16-8 lead by the middle of the second quarter. Lindsay led the offensive push, scoring four points in the run.
“We just wanted to stay relaxed, and not let the atmosphere get to [the team],” Ravens assistant coach Eric Parthenais said of the early time-out.
Gee-Gees guard Melina Wishart sparked the offence for U of O as she hit the jumper to end Carleton’s run. The two rivals exchanged offensive punches to end the half at 28-19 in favour of Carleton.
By the end of the third quarter, the Ravens extended their lead to 20 points.
U of O’s offence found its feet in the fourth quarter as they fought back to try to gain some momentum.
Gee-Gees guard Sarah Besselink hit two three-point shots to close the gap, as the U of O offence began to capitalize on open shots. Besselink scored a team high of 16 points in the game.
U of O scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, nearly matching their offensive output from the previous three quarters combined.
But the Ravens were able to control the rebounds by a margin of 13 by the end of the game, and were able to hold onto their lead as they won the game by a score of 57-44
– Main photo by Dan Robertson
