After a 2014-15 regular season record of 9-10 last year, the Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team showed they are only getting better with an impressive record of 14-5 this year.
The team started the season off strong with wins against Laurentian and Nipissing. Following these two wins, the Ravens slipped up—losing two games to Guelph and Lakehead—but quickly responded with a three game winning streak.
The weekend of Nov. 27, prior to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) mid-season break, saw Carleton dominate both the Windsor Lancers and the Western Mustangs.
The game against the Lancers was an important one as there has been an intense rivalry with these teams in the past five years, especially close to playoff time. Both teams have met in the playoffs three times in the past five years, with the Ravens losing all three. The Lancers are the five-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport defending champions.
In this matchup the Ravens defeated the Lancers 80-63, with centre Heather Lindsay scoring 24 points.
Ravens guard Stephanie Carr said that weekend was a key highlight in the season, as this is when the team realized they had a lot of potential for the season.
After Christmas break, the Ravens had an impressive run, with wins against Toronto, York, and Queen’s. The MNBA Capital Hoops Classic capped off this winning streak.
Capital Hoops, which took place on Feb. 5, featured the rivalry between the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton held at the Canadian Tire Centre. More than 10,000 tickets were sold for the event, creating an exciting atmosphere for the players. The Ravens came out as underdogs and ended up on top dominating the Gee-Gees 73-50.
Carr said a key to success was that throughout the season, the team understood their roles.
“We learned how to play to those strengths really well,” Carr said. “We were good at using people for what they were good at and that was an advantage.”
The Ravens headed into the end of the regular season as one of the best teams in the country, with six wins and only one loss in the month of February. Their season record gave them a first-round bye in the playoffs and they would meet with the Lancers again in the second round.
This time the Lancers avenged their regular season loss, defeating the Ravens by a score of 63-48, knocking them out of the playoff race.
The OUA recognized Lindsay and forward Elizabeth Leblanc as 2016 All-Stars after their successful season.
Head coach Taffe Charles said even though the team didn’t end up where they wanted, he was proud of the improvement the team made this year in terms of passing the ball, better ball-handling, and overall having a better play.
“I think we improved vastly from the year before—we had greater strides, and a lot of people improved and that’s what we were hoping for and we saw a lot of that this year,” Charles said. “We had a good season and I wish we could have ended up a little stronger at the end but unfortunately that’s not the way it worked out.”
He said over the off-season, the team needs to get stronger and improve their fitness levels as well as improve upon the guard play.
“We just need to take another step in maturity,” Charles said. “If we take the same steps as the last off-season and head into this season the same way, I think we will do some good things in the next year.”
