The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team opened 2019 with a pair of victories over the Ryerson University Rams and University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Jan. 5 and 6, respectively.
“I thought we played ridiculously tough—proud of the girls, proud of their resilience,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said after the 78-70 win over Ryerson.
“We were very resilient in that game. There were many times where it looked like it was going bad,” he said. “We took a lot of punches in terms of when we went down to the mat and we got back up.”
The teams traded baskets and made runs throughout, with Carleton taking a 35-30 lead into halftime.
They were led by veterans Nicole Gilmore and Cynthia Dupont as well as second-year guard Madison Reid, who scored a team-high 20 points.
Reid connected on four three-pointers with one particularly standout play: she drove on Rams guard Cara Tiemens before hitting the brakes—leaving Tiemens behind—and drained a jump shot.
The Ravens bench exploded in applause.
“I think we played more together today,” Ravens forward Alyssa Cerino said. “Our shots were definitely falling. We kind of got out of our own heads.”
“Taffe said to us in the change room after the game: some things didn’t go our way, we didn’t get down on ourselves, we responded and I think we were all on the same page,” she said.
With Carleton holding a slim lead late in the fourth, Dupont hit a three-pointer while Gilmore scored a floater to seal the victory.
“Consistency is key,” Gilmore said on the shot, “but I knew our team needed it and it was the crucial minutes obviously, so solid, good shots is what’s important. I’m just happy it found its way in.”
She notched a team-high 21 points, nine rebounds and two blocks the following afternoon in the team’s 75-63 over the Varsity Blues.
“Every game, Gilmore’s our hustle player. She hustles,” Dupont said.
“Doesn’t matter if she’s not scoring or if is, she’s always hustling, getting those rebounds and I think it’s so important to have a player like that because it brings us momentum on offence and it pumps us up just seeing someone else do well.”
Gilmore and the other leaders have done that as well, mentoring younger players and organizing weekly team meetings to get everyone on the same page.
The team has also grown since the first semester, according to Dupont and Cerino.
“I think it’s more like [once the] second half of the season starts, it’s kind of go time,” Cerino said. “First half of the semester, we’re trying to figure out different roles and where everyone is.”
“It’s honestly a really good accomplishment for our team because we were kind of struggling a little bit and it just goes to show that, like, we have resilience and we’re pushing towards being better and practicing better,” Dupont said on the Ryerson win.
“Today, it showed that we really wanted it.”
The team will try to build on its 10-2 record as it travels to play the Laurentian University Voyageurs and Nipissing University Lakers on Jan. 11 and 12, respectively.
Photo by: Tim Austen
