The McMaster Marauders spoiled the home opening weekend for the Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team, beating them 65-54 at the Raven’s Nest on Nov. 8.
The Ravens beat the Brock Badgers the previous night by a narrow score of 62-59 for their first win of the season, but were unable to complete the weekend sweep.
The game against the Marauders started slowly, as turnovers from both sides kept any real offense from developing. The teams traded the lead in the early stages of the game, with the Marauders coming out of the first quarter ahead 13-12.
McMaster started the second strong with an unanswered seven-point run that forced the Ravens to take a timeout. Carleton looked better after that, but were unable to close the gap, as the second quarter ended with the Marauders up 31-22. The Ravens were left chasing for the rest of the game.
The Ravens would get to within five points of the Marauders in the fourth quarter, but that was as close it came for the rest of the game.
The Marauders were given 21 free throw opportunities on the game, and made 15 of them.
Carleton head coach Taffe Charles attributed this to a lack of discipline on his team’s part.
“We played pretty hard, but I think we just lack some experience in key areas, and made some mistakes that more experienced teams wouldn’t make. Those are big differences in tight games,” he said.
Charles added the loss of former Ontario University Athletics East player of the year Elizabeth Roach left a gap in his team.
“We’re lacking a little bit in experience at the guard spot. We lost a kid that was pretty good, an all-Canadian kid,” he said. “The guard position is a particularly important one and having someone with a good feel for basketball really helps win games. Right now we’re working to have someone else fill her role.”
Charles said he has seen some encouraging signs despite the outcome.
“Our strength has been in the front court, we are getting good chances in close and have been able to score consistently from there,” he said.
