OTTAWA – The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball team is 2-0 following an impressive 73-57 victory over the McMaster Marauders.
The Ravens and Marauders got off to very different starts with both teams shooting around 35% while only Carleton found their range from beyond the arc. Kali Pocrnic (Oakville, Ont.) was an unusual 2-6 from the field in the first before heating up for a team-high 25 points on 9 of 19 shooting.
The Ravens powerful point guard put on a display in the first half finding her rhythm to score 15 at the break. Carleton didn’t pull away in the first half until a late flurry where Pocrnic found Florence Fortin (Sainte-Marie, Que.) open for a clean three before generate her own opportunities by engineering and steal to draw a foul. At times, Pocrnic’s speed was too much for the Marauders to handle and she continuously forced her way downhill creating space for teammates.
“I think we had really, really good team wins,” explained Pocrnic. “My teammates are finding me, I’m finding them and we’re just playing really well off each other, I’m super excited for the rest of the season.”
Pocrnic’s excitement was infectious as the Ravens carried their second quarter rhythm through the third outscoring Mac 16-12 to extend the lead. Despite several pushes back by Sarah Gates and the Marauders, the Ravens were able to hold off their guests for a second straight win.
Offensively, Pocrnic was insulated by a balanced lineup that saw three Ravens score in double digits while Oceanne Kounkou and Florence Fortin had six and seven points off the bench. First-year forward Jacqueline Urban continued her strong play to start the season scoring 14 points while recording 11 rebounds for her first career double-double.
“It’s amazing,” explained Pocrnic when asked about the team’s balance. “Just the depth that we have with Jacqueline Urban, Flo [Fortin] and our second years stepping up doing everything we need them to do, being tough and getting rebounds.”
The Ravens now take to the road to face Nipissing, Laurentian and Queen’s before returning home to face Windsor and Western on November 25 and 26.
On the play of the forwards…
“It’s hugely important, that’s something we were struggling with in the preseason and we broke through in one of our games because we emphasized getting the ball there. You have to put pressure at the rim and at the paint.”
On the goal for the teams trajectory…
“We hope we can get to that point where it’s ‘next man up’. I thought overall our team showed some toughness tonight.”
