WATERLOO, Ont. - A career day for
Alexa Burtenshaw, and a good first quarter, was not enough to lift the Golden Hawks past the #5 Carleton Ravens as they dropped their home contest against the #5-ranked Carleton Ravens 70-48 on Saturday night.
It was a dominant start for the Golden Hawks as their defence was the main show of the first quarter, holding the Ravens, last year's Critelli Cup finalists, to only four points.
Laurier built an early lead, going up 12-4, and a large part of that was due to the play of Burtenshaw.
Last year's team rookie of the year was the spark the Golden Hawks offence sorely needed. She put up a career-high 18 points, doubling her old career high.Â
She also added three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
When asked about Burtenshaw's performance, Laurier's manager of women's basketball operations and head coach Megan Reid credited her with "evolving bit by bit from last year".Â
"Coming in as a first-year freshman, having those first-year freshman moments, and then this year taking on leadership, which is unusual for a second year, she's stepped up to every moment that we've asked her to," Reid said.Â
"We've asked her to lead on the court, especially with Brit [
Brittyn Graves] not being on the floor right now, so her leadership - not just by scoring - but all the little things she does, talks to people, she came up with steals, she's rotating, telling people where to go, it's the little things that add up that help her have that career night."Â
Overall, high praise for a young player, truly looking to make her mark on the program.
Even with the strong start, the Carleton offence finally got their wheels rolling in the second quarter, and that eventually became Laurier's undoing.
It was a 29-12 point quarter in which Carleton's Catie Brost dropped all 11 of her points on the night, and it was that major swing that the Golden Hawks seemingly could not handle.
While the second half saw the Golden Hawks down nine, the team seemingly found a new wind, as they kept pace with the Ravens throughout the 3rd.
Unfortunately, late in the third quarter, Laurier's
Keira Aikman was forced to leave the game with an apparent lower-body injury after going down while taking a charge. Aikman has been one of the Golden Hawks' best players this season.
The Golden Hawks attempted to rally around their fallen player in the fourth, but a comeback was foiled by an ever-so-deadly Ravens attack, with Tyanne Matosas-Adderley finishing the game with 15 points, while 11 of those came in that final frame.
While the Golden Hawks fell to 1-5 with the loss, Reid had some positives to take from the weekend.
"The two things we've emphasized are physicality and connectedness, so you saw a team tonight that played together, and worked together, that gave everything they had for each other, and that's the result: we gave them [Carleton] heck for a while."
Even with the bounce back from the prior night's loss to McMaster, Laurier shot just 26.3% from the field and only 17.6% from beyond the arc.
Despite that, they held one of the best shooting teams in the country to just 70 points, with a good amount coming in the later stages, and held the Ravens to just 34.6% shooting and just five threes- a major defensive stand for this gritty young team.
Up Next
The Golden Hawks get some much-needed rest, as they are out of action until Friday, November 13, when they finally get to play an unranked opponent at home in the 0-6 Algoma Thunderbirds, a team Reid described as "just as hungry", in what should be an exciting matchup.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 pm and tickets are on sale at
tickets.laurierathletics.com
Subscribers can watch the game live on OUA.tv, and fans can also tune in at radiolaurier.com
