Women’s basketball lose their lead
The Gee-Gees fell short of the Carleton Ravens by five points on Nov. 30 with a back-and-forth lead change throughout the game. Ultimately, the Ravens pulled away and kept the lead with four minutes left in the game. Carleton’s post Heather Lindsay had a good game with 18 points and 14 rebounds. She particularly dominated the defensive rebounds and spoiled any second chances the Gee-Gees might have had.
U of O fifth-year public international affairs student Angela Tilk said the team wasn’t playing well, but they did have a good lead at the beginning of the game.
“We allowed them to gather momentum,” she said.“We missed key and easy points on layups and free throws that could have definitely helped. We were being out-rebounded from the first possession onward, and that was one of our main goals.”
Third-year human kinetics student Maddie Stephen led the team with 15 points and went five-for-five from the foul line. Second-year human kinetics student Katherine Lemoine was also a key player, with 11 points and five rebounds.
“I think the break will do us good—take some time to re-strategize and work on what needs to be done,” said Tilk. “We know the potential we have, and we can use this time to restore coach’s faith in us.”
Men’s basketball can’t keep the Ravens down
With love, you may not always rebound, and that’s fine. But when it comes to basketball, rebounds are everything.
That was the key to the victory on Nov. 29, as the Ravens out-rebounded the Gee-Gees to a 94–73 victory.
“You can’t win a game getting out-rebounded like that,” said Gees’ head coach James Derouin. When
Gees’ forward Vikas Gill agreed it was rebounds that lost them the game. “We left a lot on the boards,” he said.
On that cold Friday night in the outskirts of the downtown core, the Ravens’ basketball team showed the nation why they are ranked number one in the country, but they also demonstrated that they have the greatest fans. The Ravens’ fans had more pride for their university and their athletes in that one game than anything we’ve seen at the University of Ottawa this season.
It was clear that both teams were nervous at first, but Carleton was the first team whose nerves settled and they led with 16 points at one point in the first half.
Carleton’s victory relied on their shutdown defence of Gee-Gees’ star player Johnny Berhanemeskel and the foul trouble that point guard Caleb Agada found himself in.
Ravens’ forward Tyson Hinz showed why he is currently considered the best player in Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS), dropping 32 points in total on the garnet and grey.
Gill found his shooting in the second half, dropping key buckets as the team attempted a comeback.
“I usually get it together when coach yells at me,” he said. “I missed some in the first half but I got it together.”
On a positive note for the Gee-Gees, they got some energetic play from Terry Thomas who played his first game of the year. He exuded energy when on the bench and will surely be a key contributor in the second half of the season.
