EDMONTON 鈥� Protecting a three-point lead with one possession left in the U Sports women鈥檚 basketball title game, Carleton Ravens coach Dani Sinclair had a simple message for her team.
Do not allow any of the five Saskatchewan Huskies on the floor an easy three-point shot.
Her team responded. The ball got into the hands of Husky Logan Reider, but she was blanketed by two Ravens. She threw up a prayer of a one-handed shot that smacked the backboard, hit the front rim, and then rocketed harmlessly away from the basket.
With that, the Ravens defended their U Sports women鈥檚 basketball crown. The second-seeded Ravens won a 70-67 thriller over the top-seeded University of Saskatchewan Huskies in Sunday鈥檚 championship final at Edmonton鈥檚 Saville Centre.
"The message was to not let anyone shoot a three,鈥� said coach Sinclair of her team鈥檚 final defensive stand. 鈥淭here were multiple people on the floor for them that can (drain a three). We were just trying to make sure that nobody got a clean shot off.鈥�
The Ravens' scoring-by-committee effort outdid a heroic night from Saskatchewan鈥檚 Gage Grassick, who recorded 30 points for the Huskies.
After the game, a teary-eyed Grassick said she didn鈥檛 want to speak about her individual accomplishments.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more about the team effort,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou look at us as a whole, and not so much individually. I am so proud of my teammates.
鈥淐arleton鈥檚 a great team, they鈥檙e defending national champions for a reason. We gave it our all and, at the end of the day, we came up just a bit short.鈥�
The Huskies led 63-59 halfway through the fourth quarter, after a three-pointer from Carly Ahlstrom brought the heavily pro-Saskatchewan crowd to its feet. But the Huskies鈥� shooting went ice cold down the stretch.
鈥淲e base ourselves on our defence,鈥� said Sinclair. 鈥淚 thought we were a bit scattered defensively for a lot of the game. But a lot of the credit goes to Saskatchewan.
"Gage Grassick, my gosh, she did a great job against us tonight and got us out of rotations and got us caught, and we left a lot of people open. So, I thought, finally, in the last three minutes we kind of settled in. 鈥� I鈥檓 just really proud of the performance we had in the last three minutes.鈥�
A field goal from Tatyanna Burke gave Carleton a 64-63 lead. Burke鈥檚 field goal to give Carleton a five-point lead with just 47 seconds left was the dagger through the Huskies鈥� collective heart. She finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Ravens guard Kali Pocrnic, who had been held to just four points in the first half, heated up in the second. She led the Ravens with 18 points. Pocrnic had been the Ravens鈥� star in the lead-up to the final, scoring 22 points in the semifinals and 25 in the quarterfinal stage. She was named tournament MVP.
鈥淲hat does the MVP mean for me? At the end of the day, as long as I get a win for my team and we鈥檙e doing it all for each other, it really doesn鈥檛 matter,鈥� said Pocrnic. 鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 get it, I didn鈥檛 get it. It is what it is. I鈥檓 happy I got it, but at the end of the day, good for my team.鈥�
The game brought together the two dominant programs in women鈥檚 basketball over the last decade. Going into the game, Saskatchewan and Carleton accounted for four national championships over the past seven years.
Despite the geographical divide between the two teams, Pocrnic said that Carleton and Saskatchewan measure themselves against each other.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e always neck-and-neck with us, the number 1 or number 2 ranking in Canada. We always hear stuff about them, we see posts about them, how they鈥檙e destroying people on their side. I guess there鈥檚 a little competition there, and it鈥檚 always fun to know there鈥檚 tougher teams to look out for.鈥�
Carleton and Saskatchewan had only lost one game each heading into the final.
Grassick committed two fouls early in the first quarter, but coach Claire Meadows elected to keep her in the game. It was the right call, as her 30 points and five assists together accounted for more than half of the Huskies' offence.
Despite being a smaller team than the Huskies, the Ravens won the rebounding battle by a 45-42 margin. They were led by Jacqueline Urban鈥檚 13 boards. She was injured late in the second quarter after a collision with Saskatchewan鈥檚 Courtney Primeau, but returned after the half with a taped right knee.
BASELINES: Despite being the No. 1 and 2 seeds in the Final 8, Carleton and Saskatchewan didn't get a player on U Sports鈥� season-ending all-Canadian First Team. Grassick (Saskatchewan) and Pocrnic (Carleton) were on the Second Team. 鈥� Laval won the bronze-medal game 76-62 over Queen鈥檚, led by 25 points from L茅a-Sophie Verret. 鈥� The host University of Alberta Pandas lost the fifth-place game 65-62 to the St. Mary鈥檚 Huskies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2024.
Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press
