Carleton women’s team given wild card to nationals Ravens to open tournament against St. FX

The Carleton Ravens wandered around the women’s basketball wilderness for so long that even search and rescue squads had abandoned hope.

The Ravens defined hoops mediocrity for decades and failed to qualify for the first 39 editions of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship tournament.

Until Sunday, that is, when Carleton was selected as the wild-card entry to the 40th nationals next weekend in Windsor. Moreover, the Ravens received the No. 3 seed and a favourable draw, beginning with Friday’s matchup against the the sixth-seeded St. Francis Xavier X-Women, who beat them 64-59 in Saturday’s Central Regional final at the Ravens’ Nest.

“You can’t script this any better,” Ravens coach Taffe Charles said. “That game will be fresh in our minds. The girls will have the opportunity to redeem themselves. And this is actually not a bad matchup because we just played them. If you’re a competitor, you should look forward to a game like that.”

With Canada West teams having won the last 19 championships, many expected that conference’s runner-up, the Regina Cougars, to get the wild card but Charles said the selection criteria, which included regular-season winning percentage and winning percentage against teams with good records, favoured the Ravens. “The numbers do show that we had a better year than Regina.”

As for the remarkable transformation he has affected in four seasons as head coach, Charles attributed it to excellent support from Carleton administration and alumni, top-flight assistant coaches, hard work and a change in attitude. “It takes a belief as a team that you can do it,” he said. “What I’ve tried to instill is the idea that, if you work hard enough at something, you can achieve great things.”

The Carleton-St. FX winner will face the victor between the Saskatchewan Huskies and Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.

The other bracket has the top-seeded and host Windsor Lancers against the Laval Rouge et Or, and the Cape Breton Capers against the Toronto Varsity Blues.