RECAP: Women’s basketball sees season cut short after loss to the Ravens in OUA semifinal

The Gee-Gees women's basketball team headed across town to take on the Carleton Ravens in the OUA semifinals. Wednesday night's matchup tipped off in front of a sold-out crowd mixed with both Ravens and Gee-Gees fans banging pots and pans.

The teams met twice in the regular season, each picking up a win. Leading up to the OUA semifinal, the Gee-Gees took down Laurentian and Waterloo, while the Ravens were coming off a big win over McMaster. 

The Ravens were the stronger team in their final meeting, earning a 75-51 victory over the Gee-Gees, locking in a U SPORTS Championship appearance and the right to host the Critelli Cup. 

"I think this score really didn't represent our season. We had an amazing season," Ottawa head coach, Rose-Anne Joly said. "I'm very proud of the girls and the season that we had. We had eight new bodies on the team and they were key players so I am thinking of next year and I'm excited for it."

A back-and-forth opening ten minutes was followed by a second quarter that went in favour of the home team. The Ravens offence started to come alive, and the Ravens took a 10-point lead into halftime. For Carleton, Kali Pocrnic, who was coming off a 40-point performance in the OUA quarterfinal, had the game high of 13 points after the opening 20 minutes. Pocrnic was followed closely by Ariane Saumure, who had contributed 11 points for the Gee-Gees by halftime.

While the guard matchup was highly anticipated leading up to gametime, Carleton forward, Jacqueline Urban took over, contributing 12 points throughout the third quarter and finishing with game high of 24.

Down 61-37, the Gee-Gees only had 10 minutes to keep their season alive.

Saumure got the fourth started with a slick drive to the basket, the following play, Allie McCarthy found Emily Payne under the basket for a quick finish. Only 36 seconds into the fourth, Carleton called a timeout. 

The teams exchanged baskets throughout the remainder of the game, but Carleton's lead held, and they took the game 75-51 over Ottawa.

Ariane Saumure led the Gee-Gees with 22 points, two steals, and two rebounds.

"What Ariane did today was all with her heart, you can tell that she takes pride in her defence, and she wanted it on the offensive side," Joly said. "Kudos to Carleton, they had an amazing game and a great gameplan against our defence."

Follow @GeeGeesWBB for updates about the upcoming season.