The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team proved they are the best team in the city by defeating the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 60-55 in an exciting, nail-biting finish Nov. 29.
“You always want to be the best team in the city and a lot of us don’t even have a reason to hate Ottawa U, but everyone hates Ottawa U,” Ravens first-year guard Heather Lindsay said. “Having two top teams in the city, we’re pretty fortunate to have such a strong rivalry. It was a close game and a good game.”
The Ravens struggled in the first half with foul trouble, turnovers, and inconsistent shooting, which led to the Gee-Gees going into the second half with a 29-23 lead.
It was clear the Ravens needed to change things up, and head coach Taffe Charles said he knew he needed to get the girls going.
“We haven’t played our best basketball, yet. We were in foul trouble, but I thought we were playing tough, which was one of the main focuses of the game,” Charles said. “It wasn’t a massive panic, it was just trying to make a little bit of an adjustment in terms of our offence.”
The Ravens heard their coach and came out flying, going on a 10-0 run to start the second half.
Lindsay carried the offence for the Ravens putting up 18 points and 14 rebounds, followed by second-year forward Lindsay Shotbolt, who chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds.
“I think our team played amazing,” Shotbolt said. “We’ve had quite the adversity over the last couple months and just the group of girls that are here right now are just so bought in to everything we’re doing. It’s a big rival game and its always nice to come out on top.”
The Ravens head into the winter break tied for first in the Ontario University Athletics East division with the Gee-Gees and the Queen’s University Gaels, all with a record of 6-3.
The Ravens will be back in action Jan. 10-11 when they take on the Laurentian University Voyageurs and the Algoma University Thunderbirds.
“I think in the standings it was of great importance, but I think at the end of the day it’s going to be us and Ottawa playing in the semis or finals. So it’s important to get a leg up in terms of home court advantage,” Charles said. “It’s nice to go into the break on a high. I thought we did things we needed to do and it’s good reinforcement in terms of we’re doing the right things. In that sense it gets us motivated to be better in the second half.”
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