Ravens Sports Info (Photos: Marc Lafleur & Charles Fortin)
OTTAWA (Nov. 23, 2024) - Dorcas Buisa followed up a single game record 38 points on Friday night with 31 points on Saturday night as the Carleton Ravens improved to 9-0 over the weekend. The Ravens captured a 74-69 win over Guelph on Friday before dropping McMaster 81-70 on Saturday.
The Ravens started well on Friday building a 13-8 lead before the Gryphons rallied back to lead by seven at the end of the quarter. With Tatyanna Burke (Winona, Ont.) and Dorcas Buisa (Gatineau, Que.) carrying the bulk of the load for the Ravens, Carleton battled the best team in the West every step of the way.
The Ravens and Gryphons continued to trade points throughout the second quarter as Carleton started to find a rhythm in their rotations. Buisa scored six points but picked up two fouls and found her way to the bench for a bit.
After trailing by 9 at the half the Ravens opened the third on an 18-9 run to tie the game at 47 with 2:08 to play. Zerina Duvnjak (Kitchener, Ont.) was key in the Ravens third quarter rally as she and Dorcas Buisa combined for 11 points. But it was the fourth quarter where the story was written.
With the Ravens down by four to open the final quarter Dorcas Buisa went into overdrive. The Ravens guard was unstoppable powering into the lane over and over again making step back jumpers drop with ease. As Carleton battled to pull ahead, Buisa's persistence on both ends of the floor pushed them ahead. Then after Buisa had tied the game with another jumper in the paint, she drove again this time dishing out to Duvnjak who nailed a deep three for the lead.
Guelph would have the opportunity to tie, but their inbound with 5 seconds to go was intercepted by Noelle Kilbreath who took it coast-to-coast for the exclamation mark on the evening.
The Ravens offence was inconsistent on Saturday night, jumping out to a 12-0 lead before quickly giving up a 12-4 run as McMaster wouldn't go away. Noelle Kilbreath had 7 points in the Ravens opening run before Buisa and Burke heated up with 7 each as Carleton led 27-15 after one.
The Marauders would cut into the lead late in the second with an 11-6 run, but only after Carleton had extended the lead to 17. Dorcas Buisa has 12 points in the quarter while Nathalie Francis had five boards as Carleton led 48-33 at the break.
Neither team was able to establish their defence in the second half, but with the Marauders struggling from the field Carleton was able to build their lead out by one on the back of another 6 points from Kilbreath.
Amy Stinson would heat up from the field in the fourth, but it wasn't enough to out duel another 8 points from Buisa to put the game away.
Dorcas Buisa finished the weekend with 69 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists and 8 steals in two contests on 24-40 shooting.
"She showed a lot of leadership and toughness," said Ravens head coach Dani Sinclair of Buisa's performance. "To just kind of put the team on her back a bit at times on offence, I think it just shows how much she's been through in her five years and few months here."
