Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

The OUA women’s basketball season is well underway. After five plus games from every team, it’s time for a quick analysis of where teams stand in the league. Let’s divide the league into four tiers, starting at the top.

Tier 1 – Queen’s, Carleton, TMU

The Queen’s Gaels, Carleton Ravens and TMU Bold are the three undefeated teams in the OUA, with Queen’s and TMU 6-0 and Carleton 5-0. Attribute it to the strength of their schedule, their chemistry or whatever you want, Queen’s has been the best looking team in the league to me. The way they are handling their opponents while leaving little question, the involvement of their rookies and the step forward we’ve seen from players like Haley Barbieri and Mikayla McFarlane, they’ve been dominant. They don’t look like they’re slowing down, but if there’s a team that can stop them, it’s the team that did it three times last year.

Outside of their game against Lakehead, the Carleton Ravens have had to find ways to win late. Pulling away in the fourth quarter against Windsor and Guelph, surviving by an overtime buzzer beater against Brock, it hasn’t looked smooth for the Ravens but they’ve gotten wins, and game by game they’re growing through their title defence. The Ravens have had different players step up each game to take the spotlight and push the team to a win, highlighting their depth and trust in everyone up and down the roster.

The TMU Bold sit at 6-0 and if you want a case of trusting rookies paying off, look no further. What TMU has done through the contributions of Catrina Garvey and Corrynn Parker has pushed them from middle of the pack where they were last season, to arguably the third best team in the league. The defence of Kaillie Hall, the three-point shooting of Jayme Foreman and the rookie duo stepping up in every facet, TMU has emerged quickly as a very well balanced team that can beat you in many different ways.

Tier 2 – Ottawa, Waterloo, McMaster

This second tier consists of three teams I wouldn’t be shocked to see in the OUA semifinals alongside those top three undefeated teams. The Ottawa Gee-Gees, Waterloo Warriors and McMaster Marauders have all proved strengths through the first three weeks that sets them apart.

The Ottawa Gee-Gees have the personnel to be a top team in the league and to me their evolution is going to come down to the growth of Allie McCarthy within the system. We’ve seen as the games have gone on that Allie is becoming more and more comfortable on the floor, and her length and abilities mixed in with the system Ottawa runs could push their offence to a scary height, and improve their 1on1 defence to make them more fundamentally sound.

The Waterloo Warriors and McMaster Marauders are two teams who are coming off very successful 2022 seasons, and both have pieces playing unbelievably in Ghiselle Poblete and Jenna Button. McMaster is more of a threat in their transition game while Waterloo can pick teams apart in the half court, and while McMaster’s pace sets them above, Waterloo’s defence makes them incredibly difficult to go against.

Tier 3 – Brock, Guelph, Western, Laurentian, Laurier, Windsor, Nipissing, Lakehead

This third tier is a group of teams to me who can all beat each other, and represent the pack fighting for a 6th-12th seed in the OUA playoffs, knocking each other down along the way. Madalyn Weinert playing MVP level ball for the Badgers, the Gryphons interior defence, MacKeely Shantz playing incredible for the Mustangs, Windsor making every game messy with their great defence, every team in this tier has something that can push them above the rest, but have steps to take before they’re consistently on the level of the teams in the first and second tier.

The development of this pack of teams will truly be the most interesting thing to watch as the season goes on. Whether Sophie Milner can continue her dominance and push Nipissing to new heights, the improvements of Guelph’s rookies, Laurentian continuing to be tough to go into the paint against, Ally Burke putting up 20 points a game for Lakehead, this tier isn’t short of storylines to watch.

Tier 4 – Toronto, York, Ontario Tech, Algoma

This fourth tier is teams who are waiting for either their first win or a catch of positive momentum, all at various points of their journey of development. The Toronto Varsity Blues are at the top of this tier to me, mostly due to what they’ve shown with Ellen Ougrinov, Kaylee Williams and Sabrina Nero. Toronto has a core three in those players that can give many higher tiered teams troubles. Nero is one of the best defensive forwards in the league to me with her sound footwork and rebounding, and controlling second chances for the shooting of Williams and Ougrinov keeps Toronto in many games with a shot to take the victory. They’re still waiting for those final moments to go their way and for them to come out victorious, but we have to see them piece everything together.

The season is nowhere near over, but as we reach the six game mark for most teams, we’re starting to see who teams are.