The Carleton Ravens have a familiar foe up next on the OUA playoff schedule when the Ottawa Gee-Gees enter the Nest on Wednesday night.
The two teams have split the season series with Ottawa (18-4) winning the first meeting in December before the Ravens (21-1) took the Capital Hoops Classic by six in February. Since the February 2nd loss, Ottawa has won 6 straight, winning four in a row to wrap up the regular season before picking up first-round and quarterfinal wins to reach Wednesday.
Ottawa made quick work of the Laurentian Voyageurs in round one, picking up a 30-point home-court victory. The fifth-ranked Gee-Gees then travelled to Waterloo, trailing by five at the half before beating the Warriors by nine. Ariane Saumure had 14 points in the first round while Natsuki Szczokin bounced back from 2-of-7 shooting to put up 21 on Waterloo.
Carleton's top seed earned them a first-round bye before hosting McMaster on Saturday. Carleton shot 50.7% on Saturday, led by 17-33 and 40 points from Kali Pocrnic. Teresa Donato was 8-15, scoring 22 points, and Dorcas Buisa shot 50% while recording a double-double in the win.
The Gee-Gees enter Wednesday shooting 43% from beyond the arc in the playoffs on the back of 12-23 shooting against Laurentian. The three gave Carleton a scare on Saturday, McMaster battled back in the third quarter by going 58.3% on 7-12 shooting from beyond the arc. Amy Stinson was unstable, starting the second half 4-4 before finishing 5-7 in the middle period.
Though Stinson and Delaney Bourget got hot, it couldn't contain the best three-point shooting team in the province as Carleton shot well above their league-best 32.7% efficiency going 52.9% from deep. Pocrnic was 6-9 to lead the charge while Donato and Dorcas Buisa were a combined 3-5.
The Defensive Guards: A defensive match-up will shake out quickly on Wednesday as some of the top defenders in the OUA take the court. Kyana-Jade Poulin and Dorcas Buisa played key roles in keeping Jenna Button to 15 points, while Ariane Saumure would like to show how she earned defensive player of year honours with Western.
Kali Pocrnic (CAR): The Ravens offensively leader, the Gee-Gees will need to figure out an answer to Pocrnic who has scored 15 or more points in both games against them this season. Pocrnic enters Wednesday having scored double-digit points in seven straight games and all but four contests this season.
Natsuki Szczokin (OTT): The Gee-Gees leading point scorer, Szczokin led the OUA with 102 assists in the regular season while also disrupting the defensive end with 67 steals. Szczoki will need to interrupt the Ravens' rhythm if the Gee-Gees want to recreate their early December victory.
