Gee-Gees host No. 4 ranked Ravens tonight in Bytown Battle

The uOttawa women's basketball team will take on its rival No. 4 ranked Carleton Ravens this Tuesday. The Gee-Gees have stretched a winning streak to three games after solid showings against Laurentian (66-51) and Nipissing (88-32) this past weekend. Ottawa head coach Andy Sparks believes those positive results have the squad in a good state of mind going into a tough matchup.

 "These games are just pure battles," says Ottawa guard Kellie Forand. "The rivalry rises the level of compete on both sides, which makes for a great fight."

The garnet and grey will focus on defence against Carleton, specifically guarding Carleton's perimeter shooting. "They have a solid starting five and they shoot the ball well," explains Sparks. The Gee-Gees will also need to rely on veteran Katherine Lemoine's post play at both ends of the court against the Ravens. 

Lemoine's play is particularly important due to the presence of Heather Lindsay on the Ravens. The intelligent senior forward leads Carleton with 18.6 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. Catherine Traer, a transfer player from uOttawa, provides the secondary scoring punch with an average of 13.8 points per game. Ottawa is up against tough defence; Carleton leads the conference in turnovers, blocks and opponent scoring allowance in both opponent field goal attempts and points per game.

The Ravens hold an eight game winning streak, conceding only once in their season opener against Algoma. Last weekend, Carleton went 2-0 against Nipissing (75-30) and Laurentian (67-39). uOttawa has been unsuccessful in in their last two meetings against the Ravens.  "We have to play hard. They play hard, hard. We need to do the same thing," says Sparks.

A matchup of this calibre at this point in the season is brought into perspective by Sparks. "We don't have a lot of pressure going Tuesday's game, this doesn't decide our season right now, this is only another step along the way."

Tuesday's game will be broadcast on tape delay in the Ottawa area by Rogers Cable 22 at 10 p.m. as well as live on the OUA.tv webcast.

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees