Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

Week four of the OUA women’s basketball season is complete. The pot was stirred, Guelph and Laurier came out of the weekend tied just as they were going into the weekend solving absolutely nothing, ranked teams won and lost and the meridian was painted red. Let’s get into some power rankings for this point in the season.

#1 Carleton Ravens

As of November 27, 2023, the Carleton Ravens haven’t lost a basketball game (including preseason) in 285 days. February 15, 2023 they lost to the Ottawa Gee-Gees, and after that they went on to win the OUA and national championship, win every game in the 2023 preseason and are 7-0 to start the regular season.

Going 14-0 since their last loss not including preseason, they’ve kept their foot on the gas and proven that though champions may have a target on their backs and get every team’s best shot, it doesn’t matter to them. Every game they find new players to step up and push them to victory, and though they haven’t all been large victories, they’ve found ways to win over and over and over, and nobody has stopped the champs.

#2 Queen’s Gaels

Yes they are no longer undefeated after a 14-point loss to the Brock Badgers on the road this past weekend, but am I worried about the Gaels? No. Here’s why. It’s not a big enough sample size to get legitimately worried about anything. The Gaels still hold the largest point differential in the league at +201, 51 more than the next team (Carleton at +150).

If you asked me at the start of the season what was more realistic, them repeating their 21-1 season or taking a tiny step back and losing a couple more games during the regular season, which is still the normal thing for top teams, let’s not let last year make us think it’s not, I would’ve said losing a couple more games. I still believe they’re a top team, playing without Bella Belvedere at Brock was a significant loss for them with Bella being one of their starters, they still have the group that lost one game last year and went to both championship games, and again, they’ve only lost a single game this year.

#3 TMU Bold

The TMU Bold are 8-0 and I know what you’re thinking, “why do you have them below a 1-loss team????” Catrina Garvey and Corrynn Parker have been amazing this season, really stepping into holes the graduating veterans left and pushing this team forward accompanied by the shooting of Jayme Foreman. They have laid their trust in their young players and it has more than paid off as they’ve constantly found that extra push to put away teams like McMaster or pull away from teams like UofT or Ontario Tech or Brock.

Why they are third is because while I have all the faith they can continue this level of production from their rookies, I need to see it more before I put them above the two teams who were in both championship games last year. They to me have solidified themselves in the top three in the OUA and their ability to continue this hot streak will only will only move them up and up.

#4 Ottawa Gee-Gees

The Gee-Gees lost their first game and questions probably started to pop into people’s heads like “was Brigitte and Oksana too big of a loss?” Since then they’ve won six in a row and are now 6-1 tied with Queen’s for second in the OUA East.

They’ve looked better and better each game and they haven’t yet unlocked the full ability of their transfer Ariane Saumure. The gradual build up of Allie McCarthy within their system has been a great tool for the Gee-Gees to use, specifically on the defensive end with her length. After the bump in the road to start the season, it’s been smooth sailing for the Gee-Gees as they haven’t lost a game and are looking more and more like the team we saw last year who was one of the top in the league.

#5 Waterloo Warriors

There are two standouts for the 6-1 Waterloo Warriors who have been instrumental in the Warriors continuation of their season last year into this year. Ghiselle Poblete and Jaime Newell have been consistent impactful pieces and what they do for the rest of the team has allowed Waterloo to play the style they play and find success with it.

A split with the Guelph Gryphons gave the Warriors their lone loss, but a 4-0 record on the road keeps them at the top of the OUA West, a game and a half above the Gryphons and Laurier Golden Hawks. With the team defence they play, the transition opportunities that gives and Ghiselle’s ability to capitalize on those opportunities, Waterloo is a scary team to go against who will make your day trouble with their disruptive style.

#6 Brock Badgers

The Badgers offence over their last four games has become one of the strongest in the league, and that is paired with their pesky defence that is great at blowing up opposing team’s play styles and forcing teams to beat them playing a game that isn’t their own.

Brock most recently took down the Queen’s Gaels the weekend after pushing Carleton to overtime. Tito Akinnusi and Madalyn Weinert are both playing at a MVP level with their ability to impact the game on both sides of the ball along with their scoring, and the emergence of Angeline Campbell as a consistent shooter has pushed this team to another level. Shaking off losses to the Ottawa Gee-Gees, TMU Bold and Carleton Ravens, the Badgers are now 4-3 and gaining chemistry game by game. If you asked me for a dark horse in the league to make a run, it would have to be the Badgers.

#7 McMaster Marauders

The Marauders are 5-3 on the season, half a game ahead of the Brock Badgers in the OUA Central, and they’ve done so off their three-point shooting. Fans who’ve followed McMaster should be accustomed to how important the three is for McMaster’s offence, and the 58 per cent clip Jenna Button has been shooting it at, mixed in with big makes from others down the roster at points in games, has been the primary reason why it’s worked early on.

Their three losses coming to the TMU Bold and Brock Badgers, McMaster has found trouble keeping up with teams who can successfully chase them off the three-point line, which is why they come in at 7th. While McMaster has shown that their system can work while making runs, their ability to keep using Cassie Joli-Coeur inside the paint as an outlet for scoring is vital.

#8 Guelph Gryphons

The Gryphons are 5-3, tied for second in the OUA West behind the Waterloo Warriors. Through eight games I feel comfortable saying they are one of the best half court teams in the league. I had questions about whether they Gryphons would be able to slow down the Golden Hawks but they did just that, and the Gryphons interior defence is a pillar of this year’s team, which is where we talk about Renee Armstrong.

There are players you watch who have great defensive instincts, they respond quickly to sudden actions and they can not only play within the structure, but play off the actions of the opposing teams. Guelph and their defence, primarily Julia Colavecchia and Renee Armstrong are two players like that, and they fuel the team. Guelph’s adjustments and reactions to what the opposing team is a big reason why they’ve been so successful early on. With losses to the Carleton Ravens, Laurier Golden Hawks and Waterloo Warriors, their struggles have come when there’s a disconnect on the offensive end of the floor, but their defence is strong enough to keep them in many games.

#9 Laurier Golden Hawks

Laurier this season has taken a significant step forward in their execution, and their scoring from their top three has done a lot for them early on. Cassidy Hirtle, Dylann Mazzuchin and Miranda Campbell have powered the Golden Hawks to their 5-3 record and the improvement of Janet Enge inside the paint has been a key part of their evolution.

Their most recent split with the Guelph Gryphons put them in a spot for me where they can compete with the teams in the 5th through 8th seed but improvements defensively and more consistent threats offensively are places for the Golden Hawks to grow as they get better throughout the year. Laurier is a fast paced team who love to get downhill with Hirtle and Campbell, and they’ve had good success doing so, giving them relief for when shots aren’t dropping and their posts aren’t able to win their battles inside.

#10 Windsor Lancers

Rounding out the top 10 is the team with arguably the best defence in the league, definitely the best press, the 4-3 Windsor Lancers. Windsor makes every game they play, messy. Their ability to press teams defensively and force turnovers is one of the best in the league and their paint presence in Kali Grootenboer gives them an advantage on the glass in many of their games.

They play a true team style of basketball and they are one of the teams who thrives off chaos. They put any opponent off their rhythm and they work the ball around to all five on the floor trying to dissect their opponent just as they do defensively. Questions for me with the Lancers lie in their offensive consistency. Though they thrive off creating from their defence, against teams that are able to score through that, keeping up will be necessary to make a late push, and they have to show more in the offensive half court.