{"id":9025,"date":"2018-03-22T16:08:22","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T20:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=9025"},"modified":"2025-10-10T13:46:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:46:45","slug":"celebrating-women-basketball-winners","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/celebrating-women-basketball-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Women Basketball Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Celebrating Women Basketball Winners\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

In 2007, when Taffe Charles was hired to take over the Carleton Ravens women\u2019s basketball team with no head coaching experience at the university level, he was confident the program would develop and improve over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had the vision that we would one day, hopefully, win the national title,\u201d Charles said on March 21 at a campus breakfast where the women\u2019s team was honoured for winning its first U SPORTS championship<\/a> and the Ravens men were celebrated for bringing home the bronze<\/a>. \u201cTo have things come to fruition is absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ravens women beat the University of Saskatchewan Huskies 69-48 in the championship match in Regina on March 11, while the men beat the McGill Redmen 76-71 in Halifax to take third place in their tournament after losing in the semi-finals to the Ryerson Rams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charles \u2014 the U SPORTS and Ontario University Athletics women\u2019s basketball Coach of the Year<\/a>, and the City of Ottawa Male Coach of the Year<\/a> \u2014 praised his players for their ability to learn and grow following last season\u2019s best-ever bronze medal finish at the nationals.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe came into this year as one of the favourites and had a bull\u2019s eye on our backs every game, with everybody focused on beating us,\u201d he said about a squad that went undefeated during the regular season and playoffs. \u201cOvercoming that is pretty incredible. We were able to transform ourselves into champions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Team Built on Skill and Character<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur skill level is high,\u201d Charles continued, \u201cbut our character is even better. That\u2019s why this team won. The inter-personal relationships on this team made a massive difference. The players really like and respect each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He highlighted the accomplishment of several players, including Elizabeth Leblanc, the championship tournament MVP and national defensive player of the year<\/a>, and forward Catherine Traer, whose one-handed floating shot<\/a> from the free throw line in the dying seconds gave Carleton a 46-44 win over McGill in a tightly fought semi-final match<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat shot never goes in,\u201d laughed Charles. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen her take that shot a 100 times and it never goes in. Maybe there was a little bit of divine intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on behalf of men\u2019s coach Dave Smart, who was enjoying a well-earned holiday break with his family, fifth-year graduating forward Cam Smythe said he and his teammates rushed back to their hotel in Halifax after their bronze medal game and packed into one room to watch the women\u2019s final on TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSupport goes both ways between the men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams,\u201d said Smythe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to thank all the people \u2014 such as alumni and donors \u2014 who\u2019ve supported us over the past five years,\u201d he added. \u201cThis has been a huge part of my life and a great learning experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennifer Brenning, Carleton\u2019s director of Recreation and Athletics, emceed the breakfast and talked about the culture of excellence on both the women\u2019s and men\u2019s basketball programs.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cSports do make a difference at this university, and we\u2019re so fortunate to have these two teams on the national radar,\u201d said Board of Governors Chair Chris Carruthers, who went to Halifax to watch the men\u2019s tournament and watched the women win gold on TV in a sports bar full of cheering Carleton fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor those of you who are graduating, we\u2019re going to miss you,\u201d Carruthers said, addressing both teams. \u201cFor those of who are returning next year, we\u2019ve just bought our season\u2019s tickets and are looking forward to more great things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud of all of you for how you represent Carleton,\u201d said Vice-President (Students and Enrolment) Suzanne Blanchard. \u201cI want to congratulate you for your hard work and dedication, and for all you\u2019ve accomplished. You\u2019re great ambassadors for this university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing a varsity athlete while getting an education is not easy,\u201d added Blanchard. \u201cBut being able to balance these two worlds will really help you in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2007, when Taffe Charles was hired to take over the Carleton Ravens women\u2019s basketball team with no head coaching experience at the university level, he was confident the program would develop and improve over time. \u201cI had the vision that we would one day, hopefully, win the national title,\u201d Charles said on March 21 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":9027,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[18],"cu_story_tag":[1928],"class_list":["post-9025","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-athletics-recreation","cu_story_tag-athletics"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/9025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/9025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97865,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/9025\/revisions\/97865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=9025"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=9025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}