By Gab Rodrigues
Laurentian’s women’s basketball team lost both their games this past weekend when they played host to the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Gee-Gees, dropping their record to 2-9.
On Friday, Jan. 10, the Voyageurs fought hard but lost to the Carleton Ravens 56-53, after having the lead for most of the game.
In the first quarter, Carleton started the game off with a three-point attempt, but after that, Laurentian started playing man-to-man defense which forced the Ravens to turn over the ball.
The Voyageurs continued its strong start, as the game began to go back and forth, but both teams settled for a 10-10 tie after the first quarter.
In the second, Laurentian started where they left off in the first, as they forced the Ravens to turn over the ball, which led the Voyageurs to go on a 10-0 run to start the quarter. After a much-needed timeout, the Ravens picked up their game and started hitting some shots of their own, but the Voyageurs took a 27-21 lead going into halftime.
In the third, the Ravens looked to have jump in their step, however, the Voyageurs continued to stick to their lead, but soon found themselves tied 40-40 going into the last quarter.
To start the fourth, Carleton carried their momentum from the third quarter and hit two early shots. Following a timeout, Laurentian picked up their game and soon found themselves taking it to the Ravens, forcing Carleton to call a timeout of their own. In the last five minutes, both teams started to exchange baskets and Laurentian took a four-point lead. But with a minute left, Carleton called a much needed timeout and found themselves hitting some clutch shots, winning the game by three points.
Voyageurs head coach Jason Hurley was pleased with his team’s effort throughout the game.
“We played hard,” he said. “When we are connected, we are a good team, but we were just unlucky to finish it off.”
Carleton’s Elizabeth Roach led all scorers with 24 points, four rebounds and going 10 for 10 from the free-throw line. Laurentian guard, Danielle Harris, scored 11 points, collecting three rebounds and two assists to lead the Voyageurs in scoring throughout the game. This game came down to free-throws, as the Voyageurs went 14-27 (51.9 per cent) from the line while the Ravens shot 18-24 (75 per cent). Laurentian out-rebounded the Ravens 41-26, but had 20 turnovers compared to Carleton’s 14.
On Saturday, Jan. 11, Laurentian dropped their second game in a row when they lost 61- 51 to the Ottawa Gee-Gees.
In the first quarter, the Voyageurs came out a little sloppy with costly turnovers that led to some easy buckets for the Gee-Gees.Laurentian would pick it up, but Ottawa continued to win ball possession with offensive rebounds and the Voyageurs misuse of the ball, taking the lead 17-9 after the first.
In the second, Ottawa continued to score baskets forcing Hurley to call a much needed timeout. But, once the Voyageurs returned, Laurentian could not muster many scoring chances and only managed to score five points in the quarter, as Ottawa took a 32-14 lead going into halftime.
In the third, Laurentian picked up their game and started to hit some timely shots, but the Gee-Gees countered most of the Voyageurs opportunities and took the quarter 20-17.
In the fourth, the Voyageurs clearly outplayed Ottawa, scoring 20 points in the quarter, but Laurentian’s start to the game proved to be their demise, as the Gee-Gees won by 10 points.
“We didn’t show up ready to play,” said Hurley. “Our attention to detail was off, and we were making costly mistakes by stepping out of bounds and travelling. But, you got to be happy with our third and fourth quarter because we finally started playing some basketball.”
Voyageurs forward Emma Decloe had a strong performance for Laurentian scoring 20 points and collecting seven rebounds during the game. Ottawa’s Angela Tilk scored 20 points, adding six rebounds and two assists for Gee-Gees. Laurentian’s use of the ball was lacking throughout the game, as the Voyageurs turned over the ball 26 times while Ottawa had 21.
Decloe, in her fourth-year playing for the Voyageurs, said her team needed to be intense for the full game against Ottawa.
“We need to start off a lot better,” she said. “We weren’t as sharp as we could have been, but it was great to see that we didn’t just roll over and give up.”
Decloe believes team work is crucial for her team’s success.
“When we play as a team, we are hard to play against,” she said. “There are a lot of positives we can take from this weekend, especially against Carleton. We just need to be able to play for all four quarters in every game because we can compete with good teams, but we can’t continue to have one or two bad quarters.”
Laurentian plays host again next weekend when they take on the Queen’s Gaels on Friday, Jan. 17, and the York Lions on Saturday, Jan.18, with both games beginning at 6 p.m. at the Ben F. Avery Gymnasium.
lambda@laurentian.ca