Women’s Basketball victorious in the battle of undefeated teams

Gaels conquer Ravens 71-65

Image by: Curtis Heinzl
Gaels battle it out in the paint.

The Gaels took home their fifth consecutive win of the season on Friday at the ARC as they defeated the Carleton Ravens 71-65.

The game was a close one, with both teams putting up a quick and aggressive fight. However, in the end the Gaels gave the extra effort, needed to push themselves ahead. 

Historically, these teams have been evenly matched with seven of their last ten games ending in a close finish within ten points.

Right from the first quarter, the teams battled hard. Although Queen’s stayed consistently ahead, they lost their eight-point lead with less than three minutes left in the quarter. 

Carleton did an excellent job of bouncing back under pressure, consistently finishing the quarters strong. Where the Gaels would pull ahead in the middle, the Ravens were finishers and never ended a period down by more than four.

Queen’s held their biggest lead in the second after a series of successful free throws. As a team, they scored 16 of 20 shots from the foul line, which kept them afloat even when their shots weren’t dropping.  

Queen’s forward Julia Chadwick was the standout player of the game. Chadwick scored 18 points against the Ravens and snagged 18 rebounds. She’s been a key player for the Gaels during the past couple of games, and was recently named Student-Athlete of the week.

Laura Donovan, Isabella Belvedere, and Bridget Mulholland also scored in double digits. 

While Queen’s looked to their starting five to fill the board, Carleton relied on their bench. Their second unit racked up an impressive 33 points, demonstrating the well-rounded nature of the Carleton program and their team.

The Ravens outscored the Gaels in the third quarter and tension grew as the fans realized it could be anyone’s game with perfect records on the line. 

Some missed threes by the Gaels early in the fourth gave the Ravens a chance to completely catch-up. The fate of the game lay in the hands of just one basket. 

In the end, the Ravens lost because they couldn’t convert their easy shots. Both teams sat evenly matched in skill and effort, but the Ravens missed three layups in the last five minutes—those six points alone would have been enough to tie the score. 

“[The win] definitely gives us confidence, but we still have a lot of tough games ahead, so we have to stay dialed in,” Chadwick said in a post-game interview

“We really focused on being the aggressors and pushing the ball, and that worked well for us.”

After Friday night’s victory, the team travelled to Oshawa for a game Saturday night against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. 

The Gaels dominated the court on Saturday. They came out strong with an eight-point lead and exploded from there, taking a 29-point lead into halftime. Chadwick topped the sheet again with 15 points and nine rebounds to lead her team to yet another victory.

Queen’s has improved its record to 6-0 and now sits in fourth place on the U Sports ranking.

Tags

Basketball, home, Ravens, Undefeated, win, women's basketball

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