The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team lost their first regular season game on Nov. 18 by a score of 68-57 against the Algoma Thunderbirds at the George Leach Centre.
“The bottom line was that we thought we were better than we actually are,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said.
“Unfortunately, we let the rankings get to our heads and we didn’t put in the work that we needed to,” he said. “They basically outworked us in every facet of the game.”
Expectations were high for the Ravens heading into the season. Carleton was ranked first in the nation ahead of the game, and it marked the first time both the men’s and women’s basketball teams were ranked first at the same time.
Last season, the Thunderbirds finished the regular season with a 1-19 and lost to Carleton by a score of 67-29.
From the beginning, Algoma jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, though they only led 13-10 by the end of the first quarter.
The Ravens tied up the game at 23 by the end of the second quarter, though they were outshooting the Thunderbirds 31-20.
Algoma continued to hold a narrow lead in the third quarter, and they held a 47-43 lead heading into the final quarter.
With less than four minutes to go in the game, the Thunderbirds’ lead had grown to 18 points. Though the Ravens were able to cut the deficit to 11, they were unable to complete the comeback.
Fourth-year Ravens forward Heather Lindsay led the Ravens offensively, scoring 19 points and getting 18 rebounds.
Lindsay said her team’s poor performance can be blamed on their mindset and that they played with less intensity than the Thunderbirds.
“We were feeling very confident after a solid preseason and it got the best of us,” she said. “We didn’t respect our opponent and it really showed in the third and fourth quarter.”
Lindsay also said she believes the loss evidences that anyone in the league can win any given game.
“We have a lot of work to do between now and when we leave on [Nov. 24],” Lindsay said. “We struggled a lot defensively in the second half [against Algoma] and that will be a major focus of ours this week in practice.”
The Ravens will look to earn their first win of the season when they head north to face the Nipissing Lakers on Nov. 25.
