Gee-Gees end Ravens 42-game unbeaten streak
The Gee-Gees women’s basketball team first won the Critelli Cup in 2004 and again in 2012, and now, once again, the University of Ottawa is the provincial champion of 2025.
With an incredible win against cross-town rivals the Ravens at their own home, they took away their champion’s title and brought it back to the Gee-Gees’ stable this year. The loss ends a 42-game undefeated streak for the Ravens, dating back to Dec. 6, 2023, when the Gee-Gees beat Dani Sinclair’s squad at Montpetit Hall.
March 8 was a full-circle moment for the University of Ottawa, with not only the women’s team achieving gold, but the men’s team obtaining their own against the Ravens as well a quick drive east, making it an incredible and actual win-win moment.
The face-off started with the Ravens showing the first signs of life and taking the first three points of the night. However, Critelli Cup MVP Natsuki Szczokin obtained the lead for the team with nine points on the scoreboard, which led to the Gee-Gees scoring 11 points in a row, finishing up with Alissa Provo getting a three-pointer and obtaining a final first-quarter score of 21–14.
The second quarter showcased what an intense game looks like, with both teams exhibiting a strong desire to get ahead. Szczokin made another strong contribution, scoring 12 points for the team, totalling 21 points in the first half.
Natsuki Szczokin ended her OUA career in style Saturday night, dropping 21 first half points. Photo: Greg Kolz/Gee-Gees 
The Stable was out in full force at the Ravens Nest. Photo: Greg Kolz/Gee-Gees 
Enora Touloute earned her second career OUA start on Saturday night in the absence of Victoria Brideau. Photo: Greg Kolz/Gee-Gees 
Bailey Russell knocked down three threes and picked up 13 points off the bench. Photo: Greg Kolz/Gee-Gees
For Szczokin, a fifth-year, the game serves as her last in the OUA. Szczokin said the pressure of the game is what drove her to a strong first half performance. “Knowing it’s my last game in Ontario. And also it’s a finals game for OUA. It really, really meant something special to me. And you know, the whole team felt it. We all talked about it. And I think it just came down to wanting to win, and I think that’s what did it.”
However, it wasn’t all smooth dribbling and acrobatic layups, as the Ravens mounted a defence and had their own star, Kyana-Jade Poulin, who led the Ravens’ flock and cut the Ottawa lead to just two baskets. This made for an incredible quarter and a thrilling end to the first half of the game, with the scoreboard showing a 41–37 Ottawa lead.
Anyone who has known and experienced these cross-town rivalries knows that the Ravens recently extinguished a lead like this. In the city’s yearly awaited Capital Hoops Classic, Ottawa was dethroned with a heavy second half, an unexpected defeat that assured a fourth straight win for the Ravens in the history books.
The third quarter began, and the Gee-Gees seemed to know exactly how to respond after their last encounter. Szczokin remembers the feeling all too well.
“We’ve been through this at last year’s Capital Hoops, said Szczokin, a First Team All-Star in the OUA. “We had to break the pattern, and we knew that it would have to be this game that we do it. So we came in here with that in mind and came out with the win.”
They led the quarter with OUA Third Team All-Star Allie McCarthy’s fast three-pointers, shutting the doors for a Carleton comeback, and encouraged the Garnet and Grey to resist and attack even more. They ended the third quarter with a 15-point lead and a strong wind going into the fourth and final quarter.
De-what? Defence: That’s the strategy both teams chose for the final 10 minutes of the game. The first points on the scoreboard came when the Ravens scored a three-pointer, bringing their total to 50 points.
Seven points later, they were still the only ones on the scoreboard, prompting Ottawa to call a timeout. No doubt, head coach Rose-Anne Joly got the Gee-Gees to focus, because Ottawa finished off the quarter and won the Critelli Cup Championship with a nine-point lead, capped by a final jump shot from Emily Payne.
An emotional Joly cherished the moment. “It’s all a dream. I’m not sure I’ve ever dreamed about this, and to make it happen today is … I’m just very emotional. And kudos to the team who trusted me along the way. It was a long year, and we did it.”
The win earned the Gee-Gees the number two ranked berth at nationals at the University of British Columbia., The team still gas three games in Vancouver to fight for the national title. Make sure to keep up with the team and follow their first game on Thursday, March 13, at 3 p.m. EST against the Laval Rouge et Or on CBC Gem or CBC Sports.
