The Carleton Ravens Women’s basketball team lost their second straight game to Drury University last night 73-65.
The Ravens were dealt an immense challenge, only dressing seven players for the second night in a row. Two were rookies and one of them, Marlee Ball, hadn’t played in OUA action in a year and a half.
Carleton struggled initially, and despite a late push, could not overcome the early lead their NCAA opponents had built early in the game. Veteran forward Alyssa Cerino lead the way with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
The early deficit was in large part due to Drury’s aggressive press run-and-gun style.
“I think we did a lot better than yesterday, we took some time to watch some film and go over some stuff,” Cerino said.
“We knew they were really good at pressing and trapping coming into yesterday. We were a little frazzled but today I think we came out and did a better job at being patient at that.”
It wasn’t all positive. The team had 30 turnovers on Sunday and 34 on Monday, of which Cerino had nine and 10 respectively.
Carleton was lacking in the long-range game, scoring four times from beyond the arc to Drury’s 10, an 18-point spread.
“I think the games were a good baseline to see what we need to work on. We knew it was going to be somewhat chaotic only playing seven players and starting two rookies.”
Head coach Brian Cheng also felt the same sense of preseason disorganization.
“I think we played well and played hard but at times we were a little disjointed. So, we as a coaching staff need to take responsibility and find a way to get us a bit more organized,” Cheng said.
Playing seven players proved challenging to the team’s conditioning, but there were positives to be found, said Cheng.
“Well, you can see fatigue as one thing or you can see it as a challenge, you can see fatigue as an opportunity to find out who we are as a team,” he said.
“We saw droves and spikes from everyone. Really positive spots from everyone, somebody spikes here and somebody spikes there.”
While spikes are good, the team needs to become consistent, Cheng added. He also viewed injuries, a small roster and bad luck as unfortunate, but not deal-breaking for the team.
“I was definitely tired but I mean even with low numbers or not I know I need to log minutes. I know I need to do that for my team,” she said.
“Even though we had seven players, looking at it in a sense positively, I think we did pretty well,” she added. “Once we get some of our players back it will be that much easier not to give into fatigue as much.”
Whether it’s getting healthy, three point shooting, communication against the press, organization or new roles on the team, the two games against Drury left a lot of food for thought.
“I think that the games really outlined what we need to work on,” Reid said.
Feature image by Tim Austen
—With files from Michael Sun.
