Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

The top three teams in the OUA all came from the OUA East last season. The Queen’s Gaels finished first, the Carleton Ravens second and the Ottawa Gee-Gees third. The Gee-Gees went 18-4 in conference in 2022, two losses coming at the hands of the Gaels, one to the Ravens and one to the TMU Bold, one of just two losses the top three had to teams other than themselves.

Natsuki Szczokin powered the Gee-Gees play through the season with one of the best in the programs history, Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu doing her thing early on before missing the end of the season with injury. Now the Gee-Gees bring Natsuki and a group back, minus Brigitte, and they add a transfer guard from Western and a guard from the NCAA who will bring a different aspect to the Gee-Gees backcourt in hopes of propelling them over the hump and back to the OUA championship.

Ariane Saumure comes to the Gee-Gees from the Western Mustangs. Her scoring ability needs no explanation but what she brings to the Gee-Gees in transition play and perimeter defence, combined with the tempo of Natsuki, will be a one-two punch that’ll cause problems for OUA competition.

To recoup the loss of length this offseason, the Gee-Gees brought in a 6’0 guard from Grand Falls, New Brunswick, by way of the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, Allie McCarthy. Allie will presumably play the three position and give the Gee-Gees someone that can help with rebounding and catch and go off dishes from Natsuki and Ariane. Fans of the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association saw Allie do her thing this summer and how she is incorporated into the Gee-Gees lineup will be vital for whether they’re able to take a step forward.

The loss of Oksana Gouchie-Provencher and Brigitte, and the inclusion of Ariane and Allie, turns the strength of this Gee-Gees team to the perimeter from where they’ve been the length of Brigitte’s career which is inside the paint.

Still inside the paint, Emily Payne often worked alongside Oksana last season fighting on the glass for second chances, and the Gee-Gees will need a step up from her this season as she goes against added size in the Gaels lineup specifically and the rebounding of teams like Windsor who crash the glass hard.

It’s going to be a battle for the Gee-Gees this season just as it was last season. With the standard that this team has had over the years, the added transfers will be the biggest tell for the true end destination for this squad.