The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team won their sixth McKeen Metro Glebe tournament with three consecutive victories against the Bishop’s Gaiters, the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) Thunderwolves and the University of Ottawa (U of O) Gee-Gees at home from Oct. 20-22.
Carleton opened with a 74-65 win over Bishops. Ravens point guard Jenjen Abella started with an assist to Heather Lindsay, a jumper followed up by a layup off a steal to make it 6-0.
The Gaiters would bite back as the teams ended the first quarter tied 17-17. The Ravens built up a small lead in the second quarter as Madison Reid hit a corner three-pointer to start the quarter.
The team hit more three-pointers to put them in front, with Stephanie Carr and Abella knocking them down late in the quarter. The team carried at 39-30 lead into a second half where both teams traded buckets back and forth.
Bishops made an offensive run in the fourth, as the Gaiters’ Ashley Milhomme and Metchline Gabelus drove to the basket and scored.
Gabelus’ layup cut the Carleton lead down to 59-53 with six minutes remaining but Ravens forward Catherine Traer hit a floater, drew the foul and made a block to close out the game.
“Defensively, we gave up easily to the baseline and to the middle and that hurt us in the end,” Abella said, who had 16 points and a team high four steals. “I think we executed well in the end.”
The team came out strong defensively in their 74-51 triumph over the Thunderwolves. The game was scoreless for the first five minutes, but Carleton hit three long distance shots by Carr, Elizabeth Leblanc and Cynthia Dupont to give them a 9-0 advantage as UNBC called an early timeout.
The Ravens held their opponents to three points in the first quarter, leading 20-3. The team shot 10-for-35 (28.6 per cent) from beyond the arc with guard Nicole Gilmore leading with 19 points and going three-for-six on three-pointers.
Gilmore hit a jumper to end the first and started off the second with two three pointers. Traer also had a strong performance with 10 points and four steals off the bench. She drove, made a ball fake and finished the layup to put the Ravens up 35-16 late in the second.
Gilmore was also able to get to the hole, making a spin move and finish with the score at 50-34 in the third quarter before UNBC went on a run to cut the deficit to 50-40 by the start of the fourth. Carleton responded with their own 11-point run to end the comeback and win the game 74-51.
“A lot of it today was that we were ready to go,” Gilmore said of the three-pointers. “We just caught it dynamically . . . and when we we’re hot, we’re hot.”
The Ravens’ final game against Ottawa was a championship game, as the victorious team would come away the winner of the tournament. Carleton came out on top, 56-44.
Both teams started off defensively, as the Gee-Gees’ Amelie Hachey’s three-pointer made it 7-1. Traer drove and scored to make it 7-3 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
Ottawa held a 20-16 lead into halftime, but the Ravens were able to push ahead in the third. Traer hit a three to cut the score to 24-23, Gilmore finished in the paint to tie the game before Carr’s three pointer gave them a 29-26 lead.
Carleton ended the quarter on top 38-33 and increased the advantage in the fourth as a Lindsay’s hook shot and Alexandra Trivieri’s three pointer made it 45-33. Abella then knocked down an open three to seal the championship at 55-44.
“We’re both two very, very defensive-orientated teams so Ottawa-Carleton is always known for playing great defence,” Traer said, who notched 14 points and a game-high four steals.
“We knew at halftime what their weaknesses were, we attacked middle and that’s where their rotations were weak,” she said.
Gilmore took home tournament MVP while Lindsay was named a tournament all-star.
The Ravens will begin their regular season at home against the Guelph Gryphons on Nov. 3.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
