By Martin Cleary
For the fourth time this season, two-time defending women’s national champion Carleton University Ravens will confront the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on the basketball court.
But this time it will be for all the cookies in the cookie jar at the U Sports national women’s and men’s basketball championships in Vancouver.
While Carleton won both regular-season games against the Gee-Gees and Ottawa upset the Ravens at last Saturday’s OUA championship game, the fourth meeting between the crosstown rivals will be in the national championship semifinals on Saturday night.
The winner will advance to the final, which would see No. 3-seeded Carleton aim for a third straight Canadian title or No. 2-seeded Ottawa celebrate its first-ever Bronze Baby Trophy.
It was touch-and-go if Ottawa would advance to the semifinals, while Carleton was in full control of its quarterfinal right from the opening minutes.
Trailing by nine points early in the fourth quarter, the Gee-Gees rallied to outscore the Université Laval Rouge et Or 14-8 and force overtime, after regulation time ended at 63-63.
In overtime, four different players scored in a variety of ways – Sophie-Anne Bouffard, a three-point basket; Emily Payne, a two-point layup; Natsuki Szczokin, a two-point field goal; and Allie McCarthy, a pair of end-of-game free throws – to outscore Laval 8-4.
Ottawa won 71-67 as Payne was notable on the scoresheet with 22 points and 10 rebounds in 40 minutes. McCarthy contributed 18 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. Szczokin chipped in with 10 points, five assists and two rebounds.
The Ravens won every quarter to run past No. 6 Bishop’s University Gaiters 71-44. Carleton rushed to a 7-0 led and outscored Bishop’s after each 10-minute period – 16-8, 18-12, 15-9 and 22-15.
Teresa Donato played 27 minutes and notched a team-high 20 points, three rebounds and two assists. Dorcas Buisa played a significant role with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Tatyanna Burke was close to a double-double with 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
Jacqueline Urban pulled down nine rebounds and added three points and two assists, while Abany Deng came off the bench for 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
In the men’s quarterfinals, the Gee-Gees used their biggest offensive outburst in the fourth quarter to overcome the Concordia University Stingers 79-69. Ottawa led 38-22 at halftime, but Concordia pumped in 29 points in the third quarter for a 51-50 advantage, entering the final quarter.
The Gee-Gees received double-figure scoring from five players as Brock Newton led the way with 17 points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists. He was supported by Justin Ndjock-Tadjore with 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
Ottawa’s other top scorers were Jacques-Melanie Guemeta with 13 points, Khalifa Koulamallah at 11 points and Ankit Choudhary with 10 points.
Gatineau’s Alec Phaneuf sparked Concordia with 19 points, while Jaheem Joseph of Gatineau posted eight points and 13 rebounds.
The Gee-Gees will advance to the semifinals and play the University of Victoria Vikes, who defeated Bishop’s 85-73 in their quarterfinal.
On Wednesday night, U Sports announced its annual award winners and the Ravens’ and Gee-Gees’ programs were rewarded for their exceptional seasons.
Carleton’s Dani Sinclair, who guided the Ravens’ program to its second straight undefeated season at 22-0, was selected the national women’s coach of the year. She was the second Carleton coach to win the Peter Ennis Award, after Taffe Charles was the country’s top women’s coach in 2018.
Ottawa’s Katie Butts of the University of New Brunswick won the Sylvia Sweeney Award for her athletic achievements and community service work. One of the top players in the Atlantic University Sports conference in points scored, rebounds and blocked shots, Butts was instrumental in starting the Send a Kid to Camp Fund and reviving the Read with the REDS Program, which involved players reading books to elementary school students.
The All-Canadian teams included three Gee-Gees – Szczokin, women’s first team; Dragan Stajic, men’s second team; and Owen Kenney, men’s rookie team – and one Raven – Urban, women’s second team.
Martin Cleary has written about amateur sports for over 52 years. A past Canadian sportswriter of the year and Ottawa Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement in Sport Media honouree, Martin retired from full-time work at the Ottawa Citizen in 2012, but continued to write a bi-weekly “High Achievers” column for the Citizen/Sun.
When the pandemic struck, Martin created the High Achievers “Stay-Safe Edition” to provide some positive news during tough times, via his Twitter account at first and now here at OttawaSportsPages.ca.
Martin can be reached by e-mail at martincleary51@gmail.com and on Twitter @martincleary.