The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team lost their third game in a row Jan. 24 in a close game to the Western Mustangs, their second loss of the weekend following their game against the 11-1 Windsor Lancers.
Back-to-back three-pointers for the Mustangs gave them an early 12-5 lead midway through the first.
The Ravens managed to fight their way back into the game with a dominating rebound performance that left the score 18-11 after the first quarter.
“We started off sluggish and slow like a team that had a long road trip. They got the jump on us early, we battled hard in the third quarter to come back, but at the end of the day our experience and our youth took over and we weren’t able to overcome,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said.
Carleton relied heavily on points off rebounds, recording 11 points in the first half off 11 offensive rebounds.
The Ravens ended the first half trailing 33-21. Mustangs guard Caroline Wolynski could not miss, with 14 points going five for six from the floor.
“We were close, but we just make a lot of little mistakes,” Charles said.
The third quarter started out sloppy for each team, but a three-pointer from Ravens guard Stephanie Carr, as well as an impressive move by Natasha Plaskacz began the Ravens comeback.
Another drive by Nicole Gilmore led to a Mustang timeout, as they found the gap closed, with only six points separating them from the Ravens.
Carleton was able to outscore the Mustangs 14-5 in the third quarter, and left the score 39-35 going into the fourth.
“In the fourth quarter we went to a zone defence, and it really kind of confused them,” Charles said.
The Ravens suffered a heavy loss when Shotbolt went down with an apparent knee injury and did not return. She had 10 points and five rebounds for the game.
“I think we were a little shocked from that , and she was one of our best rebounders, and that really got us back on our heels—we were upset about the injuries and were not expecting that,” Charles said.
After hitting four consecutive free throws, Wolynski took control of the game, hitting a pair of jumpers to give the Mustangs a seven-point lead.
Carleton couldn’t close the gap, and the score ended up 63-54 for the Mustangs.
Wolynski led all scorers with 23 points, while Maddy Horst had 11 points, and Mackenzie Puklicz had 10 points.
The Ravens showed excellent scoring balance, with nine players on the score sheet.
With Capital Hoops right around the corner, the Ravens hope to have Shotbolt return, but Charles said he can’t confirm if she will return in time for the game.
“The swelling needs to go down, so we’re going to have to wait until Thursday to know when,” he said. “She’ll definitely be out this week, and we’ll have to see about Capital Hoops,” said Charles.
The Ravens will face off against Algoma on Jan. 31, the the last game before they face the Ontario University Athletics North-leading University of Ottawa Gee-Gees for the second time this season for Capital Hoops.
