AROUND OUA: No. 1 Carleton stunned in season-opening loss at Algoma

SCOREBOARD

Carleton 57 @ Algoma 68

Laurentian 64 @ Toronto 79

Waterloo 67 @ York 55

Laurier 78 @ Queen's 84

Western 76 @ Lakehead 71

Nipissing 35 @ Ryerson 73

No. 1 Carleton stunned in season-opening loss at Algoma

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON — In a shocking result which will see a shift atop the national rankings, the Carleton Ravens women's basketball team was handed defeat in a 68-57 season-opening loss to Algoma on Friday evening at the George Leach Centre.

BOX SCORE

Algoma, who finished the 2015-16 campaign at 1-19, came up with their biggest win in program history, shutting down the Ravens for large portions of the game and blowing the contest wide open in the fourth quarter to earn the victory.

Last November, Carleton held Algoma to its lowest scoring output of the 2015-16 season, as the Ravens defeated the Thunderbirds by a final score of 67-29. However, 363 days later, Algoma would flip the script on the top-ranked Ravens.

The Thunderbirds opened the game on a 7-0 run, leaving the Ravens scoreless for nearly half of the first quarter. Carleton eventually settled down, but Algoma took a 13-10 advantage into the second.

The Ravens briefly climbed back into the driver's seat early in the second, but their woeful 19.4% shooting from the floor in the half allowed the Thunderbirds to remain in the game.

Despite having 11 more shot attempts than Algoma in the first half, the Thunderbirds and Ravens entered the intermission tied up at 23.

With both teams needing a halftime energizer, the game's pace picked up in the third, as Carleton forwards Catherine Traer (Chelsea, QC) and Elizabeth Leblanc (London, ON) got in on the scoring action.

The tightly contested period left the teams only separated by a four-point margin, as a buzzer beater shot by Algoma to end the quarter gave them the momentum heading into the final frame. The Thunderbirds buried six three-point shots in the third, including four in a row on consecutive scoring plays.

In the fourth,  the Thunderbirds exploded for a large run that propelled them in front by 18 points with only a few minutes to play. Carleton made a late charge, but time would expire on their final push in regulation.

Carleton's Heather Lindsay (Ottawa, ON) finished the game with a lofty 19 points and 18 rebounds in the defeat.

The Ravens were uncharacteristically outrebounded, 40-34, in the game.

Carleton becomes the first No.1 nationally-ranked team to lose its opening game of the regular season since the 2013-14 Windsor Lancers, who, coincidentally, lost to an unranked Ravens team that year.

The Ravens will now head back to Ottawa for a week of practice before the team travels back up north to take on Nipissing (Nov. 25) and Laurentian (Nov. 26) next weekend.

Source: Carleton Ravens

Solid team efforts leads Blues to first win

Fourth-year forward Rahshida Atkinson led all players with 19 points in helping the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's basketball team to a 79-64 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Friday, November 18 at Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
 
With the win, the Blues improve to 1-3 in the early goings of the 2016-17 regular season, while the Voyageurs drop to 0-3.
 
Atkinson went 7-for-13 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the free throw line, while adding six rebounds on the night. Second-year guard Keyira Parkes added nine points and two steals, while fifth-year veteran Alanna Garner also had nine points, five boards and three assists.
 
Emily Piccini chipped in with nine points, three boards and two assists, while Diedre Edwards tallied eight points, a team-high eight rebounds and a game-high five assists. Rookie Charlotte Craig notched eight points and four rebounds, with Charlotte Collyer adding seven points in the victory.
 
Edwards and Parkes paced the Blues with six points each to put the home team up 22-18 after the first quarter. Parkes continued to hold a hot hand, draining her third three-pointer to open the second frame, and five late points from Atkinson gave Toronto a 45-33 advantage at halftime.

The two teams went back and forth in the third, with the Blues holding onto a 10-point lead (58-48) heading into the fourth quarter. Toronto got out to fast start in the fourth quarter, going on an 11-2 run in the first three minutes to put the Voyageurs away for good.

Third-year guard Emily Tinnes led the Voyageurs with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists, while L'Ashante Henry had 12 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
 
The Varsity Blues return to action tomorrow night as they host the Nipissing Lakers at Goldring Centre. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. Advance tickets are on sale here. The game will also be streamed live on OUA.tv

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Warriors stay perfect with big road win over Lions

Waterloo's impressive start to the season continued on Friday night in Toronto as the Warriors took out the York Lions 67-55 to improve to a perfect 2-0 record on the season. 

Waterloo put up 43 points in the second half compared to just 33 for the Lions as the Warriors cruised to the 12 point victory. 

The difference in the contest came from three point land as Waterloo knocked down 7-of-20 shots from downtown while York was ice cold going 0-for-13. 

Leading the way for the black and gold was Jenel Ulman (Hamilton) who had 17 points, going 5-for-11 with one 3-pointer and six from the line.  Ulman also corralled five rebounds and had two assists and three steals.

Kristen Osborne (Markham) was the other Warrior in double digits with 13 points while leading all players on the glass with seven boards.  Emily Wilk (Oakville) and Amy Jarvis (Burlington) rounded out Waterloo's attack with nine points each.   

York was led by Ishanaa Suepersadsingh with nine points while three other Lions had eight.

The Warriors will have a short night before as they make the trip to Kingston and prepare for their opponent tomorrow, the Queen's Gaels with tipoff set for 2pm.

Source: Waterloo Warriors

Alarie drops 22 on Golden Hawks in 84-78 win for No.7 Gaels

KINGSTON, Ont. (November 18, 2016) - The No.7 nationally ranked Gaels (3-0) defeated the Laurier Golden Hawks (3-1) 84-78 at the ARC in Kingston on Friday night as Queen's opened up the home portion of their schedule with a win.

GAME FLOW
In a battle of two undefeated teams so far this season it was the Gaels who got the jump on Laurier to start the action in Kingston. Queen's went off on an 11-0 run thanks to a pair of jumpers from Emily Hazlett (Fredericton) put the Gaels in front early. This allowed the Queen's to roll their bench early and after the Golden Hawks got their first point of the game, Marianne Alarie (Sudbury, Ont.) drained a three to give the Gaels their biggest lead of the frame 14-1.

Laurier responded and was able to put together a run of points of their own. The Golden Hawks got to the line pushing Queen's to respond defensively and then Irena Rynkiewicz opened up the floor with a pair of three-pointers. The Golden Hawks cut the Gaels lead to just three at 24-21 after the first.

The Golden Hawks continued to push Queen's into the second quarter. Down by just one point, Nicole Morrison hit a jumper to give Laurier their first lead of the game at 31-30 to come back from the 14-1 deficit to start. Led by strong defensive play on the glass from Robyn Pearson (Toronto) and Andrea Priamo (Guelph, Ont.), the Gaels were able to pull ahead 42-38 heading into the half. Both Pearson and Priamo had nine rebounds each at the break.

The two teams continued to go back and forth in the third quarter as the Gaels pushed their lead to no more than six in the frame, while Laurier took the lead on two occasions near the end of the quarter. The Gaels were able to even things up as Priamo netted a pair of free throws to make it 62-62 heading into the final frame.
 
In the fourth quarter, the two teams continued to trade leads heading into the final minutes of the game. Hazlett found a wide-open Abby Dixon (North Vancouver, B.C.) in the corner for three that put the Gaels up 76-72. Another three pointer from Laurier got them to within one but after Hazlett secured another jump shot Alarie drove the baseline and got her shot to go plus the foul which she also made to make the game 83-77 Gaels. Queen's went on to take the victory 84-78.

FINAL SAY?
"We knew they were a good shooting team so our goal was to make them put the ball on the floor. They still managed to get some shots off but I think we stayed very composed and played together. We ended up grinding things out and getting the win. We've started the season well and know we are a team that others want to beat." - Marianne Alarie

BY THE NUMBERS
2 - Queen's players with double-doubles as both Priamo and Pearson completed the feat
13 - Steals for Queen's compared to seven  for the Golden Hawks
23 - Turnovers for Laurier compared to just 13 for Queen's
50% - From the three point line for Laurier in the game

UP NEXT
The No.7 Gaels are back in action tomorrow afternoon as they host the Waterloo Warriors at the ARC with a 2pm start time. For ticket information visit www.gogaelsgo.com/tickets or watch the game live on OUA.tv.

Source: Queen's Gaels

Mustangs maintain perfect record with win over Thunderwolves

THUNDER BAY, Ont. - Fourth-year guard Mackenzie Puklicz led all scorers with 27 points to push the Western Mustangs to a 76-71 victory over the Lakehead Timberwolves on Friday evening.

With the win, the Mustangs keep their unblemished record through their first three weeks of the season with a 4-0 start. The Timberwolves' loss will put them at 1-3 on the season, as they will drop to third place in the OUA Central Division.

Puklicz, who is leading the nation in scoring with 27 points-per-game, did not miss a beat in her final game of the team's three-game road trip. Her ability to control the game was on full display as she shot 66% from the field while locking things down on the defensive end of the floor with five steals.

Two other Mustangs scored in double digits in the win, as Sam Loucks and Julia Curran each chipped in 13 points to help with the scoring effort for the purple and white. Western point guard Laura Graham was also made an impact for the team, facilitating the offence with six assists and forcing three turnovers in 36 minutes.

The Timberwolves' offence was sparked by their second unit, which was led by Nikki Ylagan who came off of the bench to lead the team with 18 points and five assists in the loss.

The first quarter was closely contested to start the game, but the Mustangs extended their lead in the second frame. The Timberwolves switched to a zone defence for the majority of the second quarter, allowing Curran and Victoria Heine to punish the Lakehead defence on the boards.

The team went into halftime with a 13-point lead, but the Timberwolves would turn up the intensity in the third, creating turnovers and outscoring the Mustangs 18-10 heading into the fourth.

Despite the strong run by Lakehead, the game would ultimately be decided on the boards, as Western dominated the glass against the Timberwolves, outscoring them 25-5 in second chance points. Two clutch free throws from Puklicz would once again seal the game for the Mustangs, giving them the five-point victory.

The Mustangs will back in action this Wednesday, November 23 as they will return home to take on the 3-1 Laurier Golden Hawks. The game is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. and fans can catch the action live on OUA.tv.

Source: Western Mustangs

Rams shut out Lakers in first half to cruise to victory

TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams women's basketball team put forth a dominant defensive effort in the first half, holding the Nipissing Lakers scoreless for a full 20 minutes en route to a 73-35 win on Friday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

BOXSCORE

Playing in front of their home fans for the first time this season, the Rams delivered an incredible performance. The Rams held Nipissing to 0-for-24 shooting from the floor and did not send the Lakers to the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes. Ryerson also forced 17 turnovers in the first half alone, leading to 12 steals.

"We've been keying in on the defensive end of the floor for the past few weeks and, score or no score, our process was great. We're really excited about that; the girls executed the game plan and you could feel their energy come off that," said head coach Carly Clarke following the game.

The defence generated some easy buckets for the Rams, but the home side also shot the ball efficiently, posting a 58.1% clip from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. The historic start had the Rams up 41-0 at the break.

A cheer went up from the Rams faithful as Nipissing got on the board early in the third quarter to break the scoreless streak, and the Lakers put forward a respectable second half effort. Nipissing actually outscored Ryerson 35-32 in the second half but it was much too large of a hole for the Lakers to recover from.

"We felt we were in a good place (so) we took the second half as an opportunity to work on some things. Our kids asked if we could go back to what we did defensively in the first half and we said 'no'. We needed to use this as an opportunity to get better," added Clarke.

In her first game at home in the Rams uniform, Kellie Ring (Ottawa, Ont.) shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and netted 15 points and dished for six assists in just 16 minutes of play. Ryerson's leading scorer Sofia Paska (Etobicoke, Ont.) added a game-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting in 18 minutes.

"Kellie has great experience and great leadership. (She) and C'airah Gabriel-Robinson are real anchors for us defensively and offensively she pushed the tempo tonight. It was good for her to gain some confidence and put the ball in the basket."

Ryerson improves to 2-1 on the season while Nipissing slips to 0-3. The Rams are back in action on Saturday night when they host the Laurentian Voyageurs starting at 6:00 p.m.

Be sure to join us at the Mattamy Athletic Centre as we celebrate and honour the 2015-16 OUA Critelli Cup championship with a banner and ring presentation at the conclusion of the game.

Source: Ryerson Rams