The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team began the new year in style Jan. 6-7, picking up two important road wins coming out of the holiday break.
The women kicked off 2012 with a 62-51 victory over the York Lions, before making the trek to Laurentian University, where they dominated to the tune of 69-44.
Once again, fourth-year guard Alyson Bush led the way for the women. The five-foot-seven star put up a game-high 17 points against the Lions, before scoring 13 and adding four assists in the victory over Laurentian.
“She’s one of the best players in Canada, and we need her to play well for us to win,” said head coach Taffe Charles. “She’s been playing at a high level the whole year and I think people are really starting to take notice.”
While most students used the holiday to lounge around and get back to a normal sleep schedule, the Ravens were working hard to prepare for the second half of the season.
Charles and his team traveled to Montreal for the annual Reebok Invitational Tournament, which ran from Dec. 29-31 at Concordia University. The women left Quebec with a 2-1 record and a third-place finish to show for their efforts — the one loss coming at the hands of the host club.
For Charles, coming away with the tournament title was never the most important factor. Instead, he said the competition was essential in avoiding any rust build-up over the holiday break.
“People do different things to work the kinks out, but at the end of the day it’s the competition that does that,” he said. “As much as you want to practice and it’s very important to do that, that competition from games just can’t be replicated, so it was good in that sense.”
But while the solid showing was a positive for Charles, the most exciting thing to come out of the tournament may have been the return of a familiar face.
Second-year forward Darcy Hawkins played her first games for the Ravens in nearly a year. The Merrickville, Ont. native has been out of action since suffering a concussion after she collided with a teammate during practice last season.
In her rookie campaign, the six-foot forward averaged nearly seven points per game, while also making an impact on the glass, grabbing five rebounds per game in just under 20 minutes of action.
But as Hawkins returned, the team lost second-year forward Genevieve Melatti, who Charles said will be out for 2-4 weeks with a sprained MCL.
“It’s one of those things where I was happy to have [Hawkins] back, but it doesn’t really fix the depth issue which is unfortunate,” Charles said. “But then again, if we didn’t have her back then we’d be down two players, which would have really been a problem.”
The women will continue their four-game road trip with another back-to-back set beginning Jan. 13. The Ravens will battle division rivals Ryerson University, before a crucial match-up with the University of Toronto Varsity Blues the following afternoon.
The Varsity Blues are currently even on points with the Ravens at 14, which sees the two teams tied for second place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East division.
The game promises to be an exciting affair, as U of T currently boasts a flawless 4-0 record on home court, while Carleton has been nearly perfect away from the Ravens’ Nest, holding a mark of 5-1.
But Charles stressed the team will not look beyond their first game of the weekend with the Rams.
“We’re not even focused on Toronto to be perfectly honest, because in that gym we tend to play well every year,” he said. “Conversely we have a hell of a time against Ryerson for whatever reason, so we’re definitely not overlooking them.”
