Ravens Sports Info (Photo: Charles Fortin)
OTTAWA (October 26, 2024) - The Carleton Ravens women's basketball team survived a strong push from the Windsor Lancers on Saturday night to complete a sweep of Opening Weekend presented by Hobin Architecture. The Ravens pushed aside an up-and-down defensive performance on Friday to beat Western 91-59 before beating Windsor 67-66.
On Friday, the defending champions exploded offensively with five players scoring ten or more points. Jacqueline Urban was a force early before running into foul trouble but still easily led the way with 20 points in 20 minutes. Teresa Donato also chipped in 20 points off the Ravens bench on 8-17 shooting.
"We practice everyday for these moments," said Donato after the game. "Of course there's going to be some pressure but once we step on the court all that pressure goes away because of all of our practices."
There was no doubt the Ravens were barely feeling the pressure, shooting 44.7% from the field the Ravens had contributions from just about everyone in the line-up while no one played more than 29 minutes with rookies Catherine Oliver and Nathalie Francis logging the most floor time.
The rest served Carleton well on Saturday night when they entered an absolute battle with the Windsor Lancers.
"They are always very good defensive, physical, big and long," said head coach Dani Sinclair after the game. "We kind of shortened the bench a little bit and so it was extremely tough, especially on the second night."
Despite the challenges, the Ravens bench boss was quick to credit fresh legs and a dedication to team defence as the driving factors in the Team's weekend success. Holding Windsor to their lowest outputs of the night in the third and fourth quarters the Ravens were able to limit the Lancers comeback attempt.
"It was nice to see Kyana and Dorcas anchor us too," added Sinclair. The veterans will play a key role for a Ravens team looking to rely on their depth all season. Nathalie Francis continued her strong start to her rookie season on Saturday coming off the bench to provide the Ravens with a 10-point and 10-rebound double-double. Jacqueline Urban and Jade-Poulin each had a pair of blocks while Urban added 13 rebounds and Jade-Poulin 16 points.
Carleton is on the road next weekend before returning home to face York on Sunday, November 10 at the Nest.
