RECAP: Women’s basketball tops Voyageurs, face Carleton in eastern semi

If their first two meetings of the season weren't intriguing enough, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and Carleton Ravens women's basketball teams are slated for a rubber match.

The crosstown rivals will face off in the OUA East semi-final on Saturday, Mar. 19 at the Ravens Nest. Carleton earned a first-round bye, with the Gee-Gees defeating the Laurentian Voyageurs on Wednesday night at Montpetit Hall.

"We're looking forward to it, I know the girls are excited," said Gee-Gees interim head coach Rose-Anne Joly of the Carleton matchup. "We've seen them twice. We're ready to battle, and I know they're ready to battle. It's exciting to play in the semis against a rivalry team. 

Ottawa prevailed by a 78-39 score versus Laurentian. The home team lead essentially wire-to-wire, with the game becoming close in the second quarter.

A six-point sequence in the second might have been the difference in the game. Nadine Katumbayi hit a three pointer, but was fouled. She missed the free throw, but the Garnet and Grey grabbed the rebound and fed Melina De Iulio, who hit a trey of her own. The extended possession opened a ten-point lead for Ottawa.

It was Ottawa's best defensive showing of the season, with the visitors scoring just 15 second half points. The Voyageurs were held to just 21.8 percent shooting. Wednesday marked the first time the Gee-Gees held an opponent to under 40 points since Jan. 18, 2020 when they defeated Ontario Tech 101-34.

The program's second all-time leading scorer, Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu, played in perhaps her final game at Montpetit Hall. Wednesday also marked potentially the final home game for seniors Anne Carr and Natalie Liguori. The trio were checked out at the same time with a few minutes remaining in the final quarter to a standing ovation.

Lefebvre-Okankwu led Ottawa with 23 points and 15 rebounds; her sixth double-double of the season. Savannah Provo (15 points, three three-pointers) and Alana Renon (12 points) were also into double figures.

"It was super important for the whole team, for my fellow seniors and the people who come and support us every game," said Lefebvre-Okankwu. "We really wanted to give them the best game possible, and I think that's what we did, so I'm really happy."

Héléna Lamoureux paced the visitors with 12 points. 

Ottawa and Carleton finished the regular season with identical 10-4 records, with the Ravens earning the first-round bye by virtue of a tiebreaker. 

The Ravens won the Capital Hoops Classic on their home court by a 63-43 score, before Ottawa responded on Mar. 2 with a 57-54 victory in the Bytown Battle. Curiously, the latter game was the only contest this season in which Lefebvre-Okankwu was held to under 10 points.

Saturday's matchup is set to get underway at 6:00 p.m. and will be streamed live on OUA.tv. The winner of Saturday's matchup will face whichever team prevails in the Rams (14-0) and Queen's (9-5) matchup.