OTTAWA - Despite a valiant effort in the fourth quarter, the Carleton Ravens couldn’t overcome early struggles and lost to the Gaels 71-60.
[button]Box Score[/button]
Senior night at the Ravens’ Nest didn’t start the way the Ravens would have wanted with the Queen’s Gaels going on a 6-0. Emma Kiesekamp would get the Ravens on the board with a put back before point guard Teressa Donato made a beautiful cut to the inside, pulling up for a jumper to cut the lead to 2.
With just under 4 minutes to play the Ravens would build up court, where a beautiful pass from the top of the arc would find Carleton Place’s Madison Reid on the right side of the court. Reid, as she’s done 118 times before, would settle in and hit the three-pointer. With the deep ball, Reid took sole possession of the Ravens modern era record for most career three-pointers. “Her ability to score and shoot the ball is something in my time I haven’t seen much of,” admitted Ravens head coach Dani Sinclair. “She can definitely bail you out of some tough spots. She did that this weekend, she would have wanted more to fall tonight, but she hit some big ones last night and we’ll hopefully get some rest and be able to do that with her down the stretch in playoffs.”
Reid would go 3-for-9 in the contest finishing her career with 121 regular season three-pointers made.
Asked about the record, Reid admitted that while she didn’t know she was close before last night, she’s proud of what she accomplished. “I had no idea what the record was, or who had it, but I’m grateful,” said Reid. Though she was aware of the record, Reid didn’t let it weigh on her, instead she stuck to what she does best and shot freely. “I said I wouldn’t worry about it, I’m a shooter and I just wanted to let it fly. This record is pretty cool, as a senior you always want to leave your legacy and as a shooter this is something that is important to me – that I didn’t even know what important to me – but now it’s cool that it’s there.”
After Reid’s record breaking 3-pointer the Ravens appeared to settle in, keeping pace with the with the Gael’s the rest of the way. Despite the improved play, the Ravens trailed the Gaels 21-12 at the end of the first quarter.
The Ravens would struggle in the second quarter failing to find a rhythm while the Gaels were lights out from beyond the arc, going 3-for-4 as they extended their lead to 18. While the Gaels were getting hot, the Ravens struggled shooting only 20%. Despite the Ravens struggles they led the Gaels in rebounds 23-19 and in turnovers by one.
The Ravens would get off to a strong start in the second half, with Dorcas Buisa (Gatineau, Que.) hitting a jumper in the paint before Reid would hit her third deep ball of the night to give the Ravens some life. “For someone who handles the ball in spurts, she had the ball in her hands a lot,” said coach Sinclair. “We’re throwing a lot at her, and that can’t be easy, so that shows well for our future.” Buisa would provide a new energy for the Ravens in the second half, driving the Ravens back into the game. Just as the Gaels had done the night before, the Ravens built momentum in the third quarter but couldn’t cut into the Gaels lead, finishing the quarter down 52-34.
The Ravens urgency continued into the fourth as a sold-out Ravens’ Nest got behind the Ravens. Tatyanna Burke (Winona, Ont.) got red hot to start the fourth, scoring eight straight points as the Ravens tried to work into the Gaels lead. With 4:41 to play in the quarter Burke would draw a foul putting the Ravens into the bonus down 13. As the Gaels tried to mount some offensive Burke would throw down a massive block momentarily slowing the Gaels.
Unfortunately for the Ravens, the gap they had allowed the Gaels was too much to overcome. Despite the loss, the Ravens sit second in the OUA East standings as they secure a bye to next Saturday’s OUA East Semi-Finals.
