Adamo Marinelli
February 3, 2022
The Carleton Ravens’ women’s basketball team defeated the University of GeeGees 66-60 to win their second consecutive Capital Hoops Classic after an all-around team effort on both sides of the ball. The Ravens now lead the all-time series 9-5.
The Ravens are a perfect 9-0 in 2023. In that stretch, the Ravens are playing strong, physical defense as a team and are getting offensive production from everyone.
In seven of their nine victories in 2023, the Ravens have had two players recording double-digit points and in four of their nine wins, the Ravens have had three players score more than 10 points.
The Ravens’ fantastic ball movement creates open shooting lanes and open shots from high-percentage areas which the Ravens have capitalized on.
In their first seven games of the campaign, the Ravens’ offense flowed primarily through star point guard Kali Pocrnic who scored 22 or more points and led the team in scoring in five of seven games.
Recently, the Ravens have gotten more consistent production from all five starters and their bench unit on both sides of the ball, although Pocrnic has still been producing at an elite level scoring 27 points twice and 15 or more points six times.
The Ravens’ bench outscored its opponent in seven of its nine wins in 2023. The efficient production from the bench helps keep the Ravens in games or helps the Ravens build on their lead while at the same time ensuring the starters don’t get overworked.
When everyone on the floor is a threat to score, it prevents the defense from narrowing in on an opponent’s star player which in turn creates more shot opportunities for all five players on the hardwood.
During their long win streak, the Ravens have also been proficient on the glass and in transition. The Ravens have outrebounded their opponents in seven of their last nine games, including dominating the GeeGee’s on the glass by a margin of 50-38.
The Ravens are dominant on the glass on both ends of the floor, each paying massive dividends to the team’s success. The Ravens’ dominance on the offensive glass helps them create second-chance point opportunities against the opponent's unset defence which almost always leads to an open shot with their precise and efficient ball movement. The Ravens have more second-chance point opportunities in eight games during their nine-game winning streak.
Their dominance on the defensive glass not only helps them end their opponents’ possessions and prevent them from creating second-chance opportunities or open shots from high-percentage areas like the key and in the paint, but the Ravens’ immaculate distribution and fantastic playmaking, allows for the Ravens to quickly attack in transition which results in uncontested layups and high-percentage jump-shots.
During the Ravens’ nine-game winning streak in 2023, they recorded more outscored their opponents in the paint on six occasions, which has been an extremely critical part of the Ravens’ success, as five of the nine games have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
Finally, the Ravens’ strong team defense is key to their success. The Ravens held their opponent to under 55 points in five of nine games during their long unbeaten run.
The Ravens are a phenomenal perimeter defense team and held the GeeGee’s - one of the best shooting teams in the OUA - to under 33 percent from both the field and beyond the arc which is excellent
The Ravens are quick, versatile, and aggressive on defense. Their tight defensive press gives the opposing ball carrier less space to advance the ball up the floor, pass the ball to a teammate or shoot. The Ravens are aggressive on the ball and force a lot of turnovers, which aids their transition attack immensely.
The Ravens forced 16 GeeGee’s turnovers which resulted in 21 points in transition, making it the seventh time that they have scored more points off turnovers than their opponent during their long win streak. The Ravens also excel in transition and outscored their opponent on the fastbreak in eight of their last nine games.
Defensively, the Ravens are quick to close down shooting lanes to counter the opponents’ ball movement and are agile rolling off screens to block and contest their opponents’ shots.
The Ravens moved the ball efficiently, consistently creating open shot opportunities from high-percentage areas and recording eight assists on 22 made field goals. The Ravens shot 34.4 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc.
The Ravens’ physical, agile, and versatile defense combined with their excellent ball movement and sharpshooting gave them the lead early and the Ravens never really looked back. The Ravens’ largest lead was 15 points midway through the third quarter and even though the GeeGee’s fought back, cutting their opponent’s lead to eight and even six points on multiple occasions, the Ravens did enough to hold on for a huge victory.
The win helps the Ravens improve to 16-2 on the season, second in the OUA standings only behind the 17-1 Queen’s Gaels.
This win puts them ahead of the 15-3 GeeGee’s and has massive implications on the playoff picture. The top team in each of the three divisions automatically receives a bye to the quarterfinals. The remaining teams are then seeded based on their record and the team with the best record that didn’t win their division also gets a bye.
In the same division as the Gaels, the Ravens are currently the best non-division winning team in the OUA and are in a position to receive the final bye.
However, with a 1-1 head-to-head record against the Gaels, the Ravens can still win their division if they win their remaining four games and if Queens loses one of their next four.
No comments:
Post a Comment