Banner Season: Top two seeds, Carleton and Queen’s, collide for Critelli Cup rematch in nation’s capital

Burlington, Ont. – It is a championship rematch to close out the conference campaign. For the second year in a row, it will be the Carleton Ravens and the Queen’s Gaels colliding on the Critelli Cup stage, and while the venue may be different, the goal of both teams remains the same – win.

Carleton and Queen’s showed that their championship appearance in 2022-23 was no fluke, as both produced stout regular season marks on both ends of the floor en route to their second consecutive Critelli Cup berth.

They were not only the two highest scoring teams in the conference, but also the two stingiest on defence. Carleton’s 80.6 points per game were well clear of the provincial pack, while their 53.5 points surrendered just surpassed the Queen’s mark of 53.6.

The championship hosts, who dropped only one game compared to their 21 wins as the nation’s top seed, have gotten the better of the Gaels of late, including last year’s Critelli Cup clash and a follow-up encounter at the U SPORTS national championship. Most recently, however, it was the Ravens knocking off Queen’s in their regular season finale just two weeks ago, as the former used a team effort to overcome a 19-point, 17-rebound double-double from Julia Chadwick to enter the postseason on a high. That victory was their second against the Gaels this season, and leading the charge with 21 points and seven assists in their first meeting was a familiar face - Kali Pocrnic.

Coming off a 2022-23 campaign wherein she led her team to the Bronze Baby on the heels of a national championship MVP performance, the fourth-year guard was back in fine form for 2023-24. Her season featured 15.1 points per game, good for 10th in the province, while  also dishing out a sixth-best 76 assists. The first team all-star had the Ravens rolling from the season’s opening tip and straight into the postseason, wherein she dropped a career-best 40 points in the team’s quarterfinal triumph over McMaster.

Pocrnic wasn’t the only Carleton player firing on all cylinders this season; however, as the team collectively was lights out from just about anywhere on the floor. The black birds check in with a 44.2 field goal percentage and 32.7 success rate from beyond the arc, both conference-topping marks, and even when the ball wasn’t going in, the Ravens excelled in second-chance opportunities thanks to their OUA-best 16.3 offensive rebounds per game and conference topping 16.2 rebounding margin per contest.

They will need to showcase that sharp-shooting and stout rebounding skill once again; however, if they wish to contain Chadwick, who has proven to be adept at just about anything and everything on the basketball court, a trend that has continued into the team’s two playoff wins with double-doubles against Guelph and TMU, respectively.

The senior forward and first team all-star for Queen’s finished fourth in conference scoring at 18.4 PPG, while topping the rebounding list with 11.3 per outing. Headlining her stat-stuffing campaign was a program-record outing early in 2024 when she poured in 43 points and brought down 27 rebounds in a win over York. As effective as she has been on offence, however, she has proven just as imposing on defence, as evidenced by her OUA defensive player of the year selection, and she will have to be at her best to help continue former rookie of the year Jacqueline Urban and company in the Carleton front court.

Chadwick is joined by fellow all-star Laura Donovan as the team’s one-two punch, with the second-teamer chipping in 14.2 points, while fellow fifth-years Emma Weltz and Bridget Mulholland also bring their veteran experience to the banner season stage.

With the help of these decorated seniors, Queen’s was able to connect on the second most threes per game (7.5) and did so at a 30.2 percent clip, also good for second in the OUA. They also took care of business at the charity stripe, knocking down an OUA-best 74.1 percent of their free throws. Helping them shine on offence was also their ability to distribute and take care of the ball, ranking in the top five in both assists and turnovers. And with confident, capable play like this, it is no wonder why the Gaels were able to find just as much success on the road as they did at the friendly confines of the ARC.

Hoping the home is where the heart is this weekend, however, will be the likes of Urban, who produced near double-double averages of 11.2 PPG and 8.1 RPG on the year and contributed a career-high 24 points in the team’s semifinal win over Ottawa on Wednesday night. Similar expectations will come from the duo of Teresa Donato and second team all-star Tatyanna Burke, who round out Carleton’s quartet of double-digit scorers, with the latter also bringing down an average of 7.9 boards.

The talent comes in waves for both of Saturday’s Critelli Cup participants and it will surely be showcased when the quest for the cup finale tips off at the Raven’s Nest. And while Carleton’s capable crew is hoping to parlay their skill to a second straight conference title and fourth overall, the Tricolour’s championship hopefuls are striving to flip the script from their recent head-to-head encounters and raise the women’s basketball banner for the first time in program history.