The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team will play for a bronze medal after falling by a score of 66-60 in their semifinal matchup against the McGill Martlets.
Despite falling short in their quest for the U SPORTS Championship trophy, known as the “Bronze Baby,” the Ravens will have a chance to earn bronze hardware when they take on a familiar foe—the Queen’s Gaels—in the Bronze Medal game on March 12.
After having the previous day off to prepare, the Ravens had a lac luster start, putting up only 10 points and shooting at 25 percent in the first quarter, compared to McGill’s 15 points and 42.9 shooting per cent.
“Our best players gotta be our best players and they just didn’t play well,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said after the game. “Heather Lindsay didn’t play well, Catherine Traer played okay, she didn’t start off well . . . and Elizabeth Leblanc didn’t play very well.”
McGill was able to shut down Carleton’s top players throughout the game, as Traer lead Ravens scorers with 16 points, and their strong defensive play held Carleton to a shooting percentage of 36.7.
“They did a decent job of taking us out of what we wanted to do, didn’t let our point guards catch it easily and they didn’t let us get to the wing,” Charles said.
The disappointing start and the inability for the Ravens top players to find their groove caused Carleton to have to trail through the majority of the game.
The second quarter was Carleton’s best of the game, as they put up 18 points and held McGill to 14. With a buzzer beater by Leblanc, Carleton went into halftime only trailing by one point.
After half time, Carleton came out strong offensively and were able to shoot 60 per cent of the time, but their defensive play faltered as they gave up six rebounds around their own net and were outscored 20-14 by McGill.
“[Lindsay] did okay but it wasn’t a clear matchup there [on forward],” Charles said. “Now it’s up to our guards to create those opportunities and that penetration and be consistent with that, and I thought they were very inconsistent in doing that”
Entering the fourth and final quarter of the semifinal match, Carleton trailed McGill by only five points and the Ravens were looking to make a late game push.
Carleton’s shooting percentage was only at 36.7 per cent in the final ten minutes and they missed all of their three-point opportunities.
“I’m disappointed because we had free throws we didn’t make and we had [three-pointers] we didn’t make and at this level and this scrutiny you got to make those,” Charles said.
The loss snapped Carleton’s 22-game win streak, which dated back to their first win of the season in the second game of the year.
“At the end of the day we’re pretty disappointed with what happened,” Charles said. “Everyone hopes to win the National championship and I thought we probably had a better opportunity based on us being the [Ontario University Athletics (OUA)] champs.
Carleton’s Bronze Medal game against the Gael’s will be a rematch of the OUA Final, where Carleton won 49-41 in Kingston on March 4. Earlier in the season, Carleton dashed the Gaels’ hopes of an undefeated season with a 60-52 win.
“The turn around time and their wanting to win the bronze medal where are we at with that. With our team, it’s about character and every game we play our we going to represent ourselves well but it is a quick turnaround time tomorrow,” Charles said.
