The Ravens women’s basketball team split their games as the team nears the end of the first semester.
Rookies shine versus Brock
The Ravens beat the Brock University Badgers 72-43 on Nov. 23, led by first-year forward Emma Huff’s 17 points and a 20-4 first quarter.
It also marked an important game for the team’s rookies. With starting centre Emma Kieskamp out with a concussion, rookies Deanna Hinds, Mallory Katz, Sydney Fearon, and Navneet Sandhu all saw the court.
“It’s awesome because everybody is so hyped when they get in when they’re doing great things,” Huff said. “It’s just positive to see a move in the right direction.”
Hinds and Sandhu scored their first-ever regular season points.
“Today, I went out and tried to panic less and just go with the flow,” Sandhu said. “People are going to make mistakes and you just got to move on and learn from it and keep playing.”
Fearon said she tried to stay positive. Katz added she was nervous “but a way to calm down is to focus on the things you can control.”
Hinds added she was “kind of shocked” she came into the game early on as Ravens forward Alyssa Cerino picked up fouls. “I was excited to get an opportunity to play,” she said.
As Carleton built up their lead in the second half, the bench erupted in applause when the rookies scored.
“We want to get them in,” Cerino said. “We know what it’s like—we were in their position too. In your first year, you don’t play that much.”
Ravens head coach Taffe Charles said the game could be a confidence boost for the rookies. He called the transition to university is “a long haul” for them.
“It’s a roller coaster ride and school is part of it too—school, exams, midterms,” he added. “It’s a lot and the weather turns bad.”
Charles said that having veterans to encourage the rookies to stay resilient has helped.
The first-year players said they try and learn from different players in practice.
“Honestly, I talk to everyone, just getting everyone’s input,” Fearon said. “Being a [power forward], you’re setting screens and stuff so you are in touch with all the players.”
The first-year players said there’s been a lot of support with the intense practices.
“First, [the veterans] were trying to teach us the ropes and learning the plays, not trying to stress us out too much,” Hinds noted. “Now that’s it’s crunch time and we’re getting into the season, they’re really pushing us because they want us to be better and it’s our responsibility too to at least put up a fight so they can improve as well.”
Marauders exact revenge on Ravens
After falling to Carleton in the previous two playoffs, the McMaster University Marauders beat the Ravens 64-52 on Nov. 24. The Marauders got off to an early lead as Ravens guards Madison Reid and Nicole Gilmore got into foul trouble.
Reid finished with a game-high 22 points but was unable to stop the Marauders in the fourth quarter as the Ravens tried to make a comeback.
“We don’t understand a good team lost in another gym and they come in here determined to win and we weren’t ready to answer so [we] just saw a lot of inexperience,” Charles said.
“Bottom line, we got beat up,” he added. “We got beat up on the boards, did everything kind of soft.”
The Marauders were led by fifth-year seniors Linnaea Harper and Hilary Hanaka, who had 15 points apiece. Third-year forward Olivia Wilson also added 13 points as Carleton had difficulty in trying to guard her with Kiesekamp out.
Charles said it was frustrating as, heading into the game, the players didn’t understand “where we’re at” and “how hard it is to win.”
“I know what level they need to get to win basketball games at this league but again, they either aren’t able to do it at this point or don’t want to do it,” he said.
The players called their loss to Lakehead the previous week “a wake-up call” as they worked harder in practice and watched film.
“Wake-up calls are over,” Charles said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t put the effort in—they beat us up.”
“If [other teams] think we’re good, they’re not going to sleep on us . . . so they’re giving us their best effort, and our best effort isn’t good enough.”
The Ravens travel to play the Algoma University Thunderbirds and the University of Guelph Gryphons on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2. to close out the semester.
With Files by Tim Austen
Photo by Tim Austen
