The Carleton Ravens women's basketball team wants to ensure the road to the Critelli Cup runs through the Ravens' Nest this weekend. Carleton will wrap up the 2023-24 regular season with a trip to Ontario Tech and Queen's with all eyes on the opportunity to clinch first in the conference.
At 19-1 and ranked tops of the U SPORTS Top 10, the Carleton Ravens have their eyes set on a huge matchup this weekend when the have a Critelli Cup rematch at the ARC against Queen's. But before they can get there, Carleton must first travel to Ontario Tech on Friday for a game with the Ridgebacks.
It will be a homecoming for Ravens transfer Hadeza Ismaila who plays her first game in Oshawa since graduating from the Ridgebacks program. In their meeting at the Nest in January Ismaila started playing 20 minutes for Carleton, recording six points, six rebounds and three steals as Carleton won 105-44. The game was the second time the Ravens put up 100 this season, after putting up 107 on York in December. Carleton flirted with triple digits both games last weekend, scoring 93 and 92.
Friday night will be about establishing good habits for the Ravens. After jumping out to a 44-point lead at the half Saturday, Carleton got away from their identity in the second half, being outscored 41-28 by the Bold.
Those good habits will be important on Saturday when the Ravens face the Gaels. Queen's enter the weekend 18-2 and tip off against 16-4 Ottawa on Friday before welcoming Carleton. The two teams have met once already this season, with Carleton taking the 73-68 win at the Nest in January.
It was a game of swings, with Carleton seeing a 13-point halftime lead shrink to 5 in the third quarter. Laura Donovan had 31 points for the visiting Gaels while playing 39 minutes while Carleton's deep guard room ended up being the difference. Kali Pocrnic led the group scoring 21 points despite shooting 1-7 from three. Dorcas Buisa, Tatyanna Burke and Teresa Donato all scored 13 for Carleton.
The Ravens will need to continue to win the battles inside if they want to have success on Saturday, the last time the two teams faced off, Carleton out-rebounded Queen's 38-30 while outscoring them in the paint by 6.
Both Ravens games this weekend can be seen on OUA.tv.
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