Toronto’s women’s basketball team used nasty defence and tough rebounding to pull out a 66-58 victory over the Carleton Ravens Saturday night. This was the fourth straight win for the ever-improving Blues.
The Blues held a feisty Ravens squad to 27 per cent shooting from the field and dominated them on the glass, where Toronto outscored Carleton 52-28.
Senior Kaila MacAlpine had a huge game after going scoreless in Friday night’s win over Ottawa. The forward led Toronto with 17 points, ten rebounds and four assists, while also accounting for three steals.
The Blues raced out to an 8-4 lead on hoops by forwards Christine Cho and Laila Bellony in the paint. Ashley Keohan and the Blues’ smothering defence forced the Ravens into some bad shots on the defensive end to hold the lead.
Carleton (10-12) got back into the game, though, using a full-court press and pulled to within two at the half. The score at the recess was 33-31.
Carleton-led by 5’10” forward Brooke Ritchie-came out strong after the break. The bruising forward nailed an elbow jumper, got fouled on the break (she hit both free throws) and sunk a back-door lay-up to give the Ravens a three-point lead early in the second period.
Toronto went back ahead by one when first-year forward Kauri Lafontaine put home a nifty reverse lay-up. The lead was extended to five with fewer than eight minutes left after a Cho basket.
Carleton would not let up, however, and took back the lead at 51-50 when Ritchie grabbed an offensive rebound and delivered it to the Blues basket for two points. The lead was enlarged on a Ravens fast break, when guard Dasa Farthing was not picked up in transition and drilled her only three-pointer of the game. This put the Blues down by two with under five minutes to play.
Five-foot-eight guard Alaine Hutton would not let the Blues lose on this night, however, as she scored two consecutive buckets to tie the game at 56. Carleton guard Tanya Perry had a three-point attempt go in and out seconds later, leading to MacAlpine making a wide-open three to give Toronto the lead for good.
The Blues (14-8) kept their hot streak going on Wednesday with a 68-54 win over Ryerson. Their next game will be an Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarterfinal match at home on February 22.
