Written by Ravens Sports Information
OTTAWA – The UQAM Citadins are the 2022 Metro McKeen Glebe champions following a thrilling 70-66 overtime victory over the Carleton Ravens.
UQAM opened the final game of the tournament with a 3 from Alexe Dufresne while the Ravens struggled to find a rhythm against UQAM inside with outrebounding Carleton 8-6 on their defensive glass. Dufresne would score a team leading 9 points including six from the free throw line in the first half, but the Citadins trailed by five, 35-30.
Carleton’s first half was lead was driven by 10 points from Kali Pocrnic and 7 from forward Emma Kiesekamp. Kiesekamp also collected four rebounds while Ravens second-year guard Teresa Donato had 5 points in 17 minutes.
The second half was a physical affair which included 26 fouls as the two teams battled for every inch. The Citadins battled back, taking advantage of their time at the line to force their way back into the match up. With a three-point game in the final seconds, tournament MVP Fredlaine Verrier drained a clutch three-pointer with five seconds to go to tie the game.
After shooting only 19.2% in the second half, the Ravens were stifled again in extra frame as the Citadins tight defense allowed only 1 basket. In the final 45 seconds of overtime, Paule-Beline Abata gave the the Citadins a lead before Fredlyne Verrier iced the game with 7 seconds to play.
In the afternoon’s first game, the UBCO Heat went toe-to-toe with the Concordia Stingers in a game that set the tone for an excellent afternoon of basketball. Determined not to go home winless, the Heat never quit and came away with a 73-70 victory over the Concordia Stingers.
Tournament all-star, Jaeli Ibbetson continued to be the engine for UBCO, scoring 6 points in the first quarter to go along with two rebounds to put the Heat narrowly ahead 13-12. On the other side of the ball, Areej Burgunio led a balanced Stingers offence in the first quarter with 4 points while Rowena Blais recorded 3 points.
Each time the Stingers looked to pull ahead Ibbetson and Tessa Burton would respond. By halftime, Ibbetson had recorded 12 of her game-high 31 points.
In the second half, Brutto and Ibbetson went head-to-head with Concordia’s Burgonio and Gretta Ineza all playing almost the entire half while scoring a combined 58 of the half’s 8o points.
With 6:42 remaining in the fourth, Ibbetson would drive hard to the rim for a smooth layup that would kickstart a 13-2 run for the Heat. The run would prove to be enough as Concordia failed to respond in kind.
