Banner Season: Carleton eyes Critelli Cup three-peat in nation’s capital clash with Ottawa

Burlington, Ont. – Coming into the season, all eyes were on Carleton as the two-time provincial and national champions, and the team has responded with an undefeated season and another trip to the Critelli Cup Women’s Basketball Championship. This time around, however, with fans flocking to the Ravens’ Nest for another OUA finale, they will see familiar foes face off, as the latest team to try to ground those three-peat aspirations will be the crosstown rival Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Backed by an unblemished 22-0 regular season and top spot in the conference overall, the Ravens have managed an impressive level of consistency throughout their campaign. Not far behind them, however, the Gee-Gees earned the No. 2 seed in the province following a 19-win regular season of their own. So which side will cap off their victory-laden OUA campaign by hoisting the Critelli Cup?

If the Ravens are to soar to victory, they’ll need their all-star duo – Jacqueline Urban and Kyana-Jade Poulin – to continue their sensational seasons, much like they did as part of Carleton’s silver-medal winning performance at the 2024 FISU University World Cup 3x3 basketball tournament in November.

The former, who burst onto the scene as the OUA and U SPORTS rookie of the year in 2023, has been a force for the black birds this year. Averaging just shy of a double-double with 13.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per contest, the Ancaster, Ont. standout has been as reliable as they come.

Poulin, a fellow third-year from Montreal, Que., has also produced time and time again, regardless of the stage. A U SPORTS Final 8 all-star from a year ago, Poulin averaged 14.3 points for the season (9th in OUA), and managed to steal the show in the quarterfinals with a career-high 22 point, 10 rebound showing against McMaster.

With an undefeated mark on the year, it comes as no surprise that the Ravens also paced the pack in several statistic categories spanning both ends of the floor. Offensively, the team’s aforementioned all-stars, along with veterans Dorcas Buisa and Tatyanna Burke, each averaged double digit points en route to Carleton’s league-leading 75.4 points per game. And this proficient point production came on an OUA-best 41.6% success rate from the field and a sharpshooting 31% from beyond the arc.

The group also hits the glass with the best in the business, pulling down and holding opponents to second-best marks on the boards, while also limiting ball movement (surrendering just 8.3 assists per game) and limiting teams to just 30.7% shooting from the floor.

Not to be outdone, however, the Gee-Gees are also a formidable foe up and down the court. The Garnet and Grey racked up 72.6 points per game (3rd in OUA) on second-best shooting ranks from the field and from deep. A big reason for that success on offence has been their ball movement, leading the province with 16 assists per game.

But as much havoc as they wreak offensively, they are also a force on the other side of the ball, a key part of their identity according to head coach Rose-Anne Joly.

“Our core value is to play very good defence and we rely on it to give us energy on the offensive side. It’s not just a season, but it’s been four years that we’ve been working towards this.”

Surrendering just 53.2 points per game from their opposition, the Gee-Gees force a league high 24 turnovers per contest, to go along with just under 15 steals and over five blocks per game, leading the way in both regards.

A prominent figure in these lofty team marks is all-star Natsuki Szczokin, who continues to impress in her fifth season. In addition to her 17.1 points per game, the dynamic guard from Barrie, Ont. also led the conference with 4.0 steals per game and was second with her 4.8 assists per game.

Much like first team all-star Szczokin can take over games, so too can Allie McCarthy. The human kinetics major from Grand Falls, N.B. has proven to be a reliable threat for one of the OUA’s top teams, thanks in large part to her shooting ability. The North Dakota transfer, in her second season with Ottawa, finished in the top-10 in both field goal percentage (46.9%, 8th in OUA) and three-point percentage (33.3%, T-9th in OUA) on the year.

Head-to-head this year, Carleton got the better of their fellow competitors from the nation’s capital, but the wins did not come without a tough battle from the Gee-Gees, including a slim four-point edge at Capital Hoops. Szczokin’s game-high 19 points in that one wasn’t enough to overcome Poulin’s 18 points and Urban’s 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Their other contest, which took place at the Ravens’ Nest to close out the fall slate, saw Carleton use the middle two frames to pull away for the 22-point win, led by a game-best 23 points from Burke.

Much like that December matchup, Carleton has posted comfortable victories in their two postseason games to date, beginning with a 98-45 win over McMaster in the quarterfinals and following that up with a 76-60 triumph over TMU. Key in both of those games was the offensive spark of Teresa Donato off the bench, checking in with a combined 37 points therein.

McCarthy has come up big in Ottawa’s postseason path, meanwhile, posting 20 points in her team’s win over the reigning finalists from Queen’s and a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in their 81-53 semifinal surge over Windsor.

Certainly, the stars have come to play for both sides and the last two teams standing will need continued contributions from these difference-makers on the banner season stage. So as the Critelli Cup tips off, the question then becomes whether Ottawa, the last team to defeat the Ravens back in December 2023, can topple the two-time defending champs, or if Carleton will continue their undefeated streak for the first women’s basketball three-peat in a decade?