AROUND OUA: Queen's edges out Laurier 64-61

The Gee-Gees women's basketball team ran its regular season record to 6-0 and its overall winning streak to ten games with a statement 75-60 performance against the no. 9 ranked Windsor Lancers (4-2).

Ottawa established control of the game early using strong offensive sets and excellent rebounding positioning to open up a 12-4 advantage in the opening four minutes. Kellie Forand sank two three-pointers to help build the early lead, which stretched to 21-11 by the end of the first quarter.

It was a team effort for the garnet and grey, with seven players scoring eight or more points. Fourth-year centre Katherine Lemoine led the squad with 14 points and eight rebounds while Catherine Traer recorded nine points, nine rebounds, and two blocks.

Point guard Kellie Ring bucketed 12 points and dished out four assists, and noted that the win was the result of preparation and hunger to top the rival Lancers. "Obviously Windsor is a great team but we were very prepared and focussed. We felt composed, and it just feels good to be 6-0 right now."

Alyssa Cerino was the high scorer for Windsor with 10 points. Cheyanne Roger and Andrea Kiss were limited to a combined 11 points. The Lancers truly thrived from the free throw line, sinking 25-34. Ottawa won the rebounding battle by a 39-33 margin.

The Gee-Gees opened up a twenty point lead, 41-21, on a jumper by Ring with just under two minutes to play in the second quarter and held a 44-23 advantage at the half on 52 per cent shooting.

"It kind of reminded me of the OUA Finals," said Ring, recalling the 2012 game which was the last victory for Ottawa over the Lancers. The Ottawa native was in her first season and led the charge to a huge first half performance which ultimately led to an 89-40 score. "If we're going to play that well in the first half, we have to back it up in the second. We can build from the first half today."

Cheyanne Roger opened the second half with a quality inside score for the Lancers, but Lemoine responded at the other end with an offensive rebound and a bucket. Windsor's half court pressure slowed the Gee-Gees down, but the poise and speed of Julia Soriano alongside Ring helped limit the damage.

Windsor did draw within 12 points in the second half after three-pointers from Carly Steer with 3:15 to play, but Ottawa remained poised and late baskets from Traer sealed the double-digit win.

Ottawa will host the Western Mustangs (3-3) on Saturday evening to close out the 2015 schedule. Game time is 6 p.m.

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees

Complete effort pushes Lakers past T'Wolves

Putting together a complete game – all four quarters at the same pace, same execution and same success had been a problem for the Nipissing Lakers women's basketball team lately.

And while the score was tight Friday night in North Bay, the Lakers played a very strong 40 minutes on their way to win number two on the season, as they defeated the Algoma Thunderbirds 64-59.

The Lakers outscored Algoma in three of the four quarters, with just the fourth quarter going the Thunderbirds way thanks to a late push from the school based out of Sault Ste. Marie.

Nipissing came away with the lead after a low scoring first quarter.

In the second, things picked up offensively and the Lakers added to their lead, outscoring Algoma 16-11 and took a 28-18 lead into halftime.

The teams combined for 49 points in the third quarter alone, with the Lakers once again extending their lead, this time by three, which put them up 54-41 heading into the fourth quarter.

Algoma closed the gap thanks to an 18-10 advantage in the final 10 minutes, but a few key baskets down the stretch by the Lakers put the game away and gave them win number two.

Nipissing was led by their balanced attack with seven players picking up at least five points, including two in double digits.

Claire Abbott led the Lakers with 18 points, Alexe Galipeau-Wilson added 11 and Michaela Branker picked up nine points to pace the Lakers.

Nipissing moved into third in the division thanks to the win in the final game of the first semester for Nipissing.

The Lakers will be back on the court in the new year.

Source: Nipissing Lakers

Spirited performance by Ravens helps them see off Mustangs, 67-43

(OTTAWA, ON) — It was an energetic Ravens women's basketball team that showed up on the home court on Friday night, as Carleton played one of their more complete outings of the season in an impressive 67-43 win over the Western Mustangs.

Carleton (4-2) led the game from start to finish and suffocated the Mustangs (3-3) on the defensive end by limiting a Western offense – that was nearly averaging 80 points per game prior to tonight – to their lowest scoring output of the season.

"We really wanted to work harder than the other team and we wanted to play hard for 40 minutes," said Ravens head coach Taffe Charles. "I thought we accomplished both of those things tonight – it was a good team win for sure."

For the fourth time in the regular season, Ravens forward Heather Lindsay (Ottawa, ON) led the team in scoring by adding a game-high 22 points on 11 of 14 shooting from the floor.

"We had a spirited effort tonight," said a proud coach Charles. "I thought we had a decent week of practice and now we are getting people healthy again."

It was a collective offensive effort for Carleton as seven players had 6 or more points.  The Ravens shot an impressive 52.7% from the field and they also connected on eight 3-point shots, with six of them split between the second the third quarters.

The Ravens opened the game on a 7-0 run and never looked back as they won the first half 32-23. Western had climbed back into the game in the second by closing the gap to three points, but Natasha Plaskacz (Chelsea, QC) and Steph Carr (Stittsville, ON) hit back-to-back treys to stop the Mustangs in their tracks to take back command of the game.

Carleton played ferociously on the defensive end all evening as the Ravens ran aggressively through screens, provided timely help defence and kept step-for-step with their opponents to wear them out.

"It was the most complete effort we had defensively and [Western is] a very good offensive team," reflected Taffe Charles. "They score around 80 points a game and we held them to 43 – we're playing a lot harder on that end which will help us win games."

"We made [Western] work from the get-go. We shut down most of their runs, and that was important in our success tonight."

While the Ravens were unable to limit the effectiveness of Western's leading scorer Mackenzie Puklicz, who scored a team-high 17 points, Carleton did hold the Mustangs to just 26.7% (4-15) from beyond the arc. Western did themselves no favours with a sub-par 41.2% (7-17) from the free-throw line.

Carleton held Western to just 20 points in the second half, and only 7 points in the final quarter, as the Ravens buckled down and prevented any type of comeback.

Carleton's Elizabeth Leblanc (London, ON) stuffed the stat sheet with 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and a game-high 8 assists in 30 minutes of action.

The Ravens will look to mimic their defensiveness prowess from this evening's game against the high-powered offence of the Windsor Lancers – winners of the past five CIS women's basketball crowns – tomorrow night in their final regular season game of 2015.

Source: Carleton Ravens