VANCOUVER (Mar. 15, 2025) - The Carleton Ravens women’s basketball got off to a hot start and never looked back on Saturday night beating the Ottawa Gee-Gees 84-60. The Ravens avenged last Saturday’s loss in the OUA final and advanced to the U SPORTS Final 8 championship game Sunday afternoon.
The Ravens started fast and built a 7-3 lead in the opening five minutes before finding their range. Zerina Duvnjak, Teresa Donato and Dorcas Buisa drained threes two minutes late in the quarter. Carleton’s sharp shooting and solid defence let them blow open their lead, stretching their advantage to 26-7 at the end of the period.
The Ravens scored their first field goal 3:24 into the second quarter but then heated up. Dorcas Buisa had a steal and Abany Deng put home the layup while drawing the foul. After the Gee-Gees responded, Nathalie Francis finished a Kyana-Jade Poulin miss to keep the momentum going. The two teams traded points the rest of the quarter and Carleton led at the break 46-19.
The Ravens came out hot in the third with Jacqueline Urban hitting a three and Tatyanna Burke went coast-to-coast to make the lead 31. But the Gee-Gees wouldn’t back down and rallied, hitting six triples in the quarter to cut the lead to 12. A late layup for the Ravens would put them up 59-45 heading into the fourth.
Kyana-Jade Poulin lit the sky early in the fourth, nailing a corner three to get the Ravens started. Burke would then break up a Gee-Gees transition before racing down the floor to finish the Ravens transition. Tatyanna was a force throughout the evening earning player of the game honours with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
The Ravens lockdown defence continued to give the Gee-Gees fits early in the quarter as they rebuilt their lead to 26. Carleton would shut down the Gee-Gees the rest of the way.
The Ravens shot 45.6 percent from the field and outrebounded Ottawa 44-31. Ottawa shot 43.4 percent but were hampered by their 24 turnovers. The Ravens also capitalized on fast breaks, scoring 19 points in transition.
Asked about her team’s play, coach Dani Sinclair credited the group. “They played together as a team and they executed the gameplan,” she said. Looking ahead to the finals against Saskatchewan, Sinclair and the Ravens plan to approach the game as they have every contest this season. “It just comes down to being prepared in the moment, having a good game plan and being able to adjust.”
The Ravens and Saskatchewan Huskies will meet in the championship game on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. PDT / 7:00 p.m. EDT on Sportsnet. Carleton and Saskatchewan met in the 2024 finals with Carleton capturing their second consecutive title with a 70-67 win.
