Down by two points with two minutes to go, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s basketball team dug deep and pulled out the 74-71 win over the visiting Carleton Ravens on Saturday night (Feb. 7) at the Sports Gym.

Fifth-year forward Tara Kinnear (Kemptville, Ont.) put on a show down the stretch, hitting key free throws and pulling down huge rebounds. The Blues player of the game came up with the block and the steal with five seconds left in regulation to help secure the win.

With the victory, Toronto maintains their lead at the top of the OUA East division, two points ahead of the second-place Ottawa Gee-Gees. They also extend their win streak to 11 games and remain undefeated in 2009.

The Ravens jumped out to an early 17-10 first-quarter lead thanks in large part to solid defensive pressure on the ball and key steals late in the opening frame, which led to four fast-break points.

In the second quarter the Blues turned to their two leading scorers to get them back in the game. Fourth-year guard Alaine Hutton (Hamilton, Ont.) was good for 10 points in 15 minutes, going 3-6 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. Nicki Schutz (Toronto), despite double and triple teams, knocked down 15 first-half points and was near perfect, hitting 5-of-6 from the field and was 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.

The two combined for 25 of the team’s 32 points as Toronto led 32-28 at the midway point of the game.

Coming out of the break, Carleton’s shooting tandem of Ines Jelic (London, Ont.) and Tanya Perry (Barrie, Ont.) weren’t to be outdone. With Perry’s seven third-quarter points leading the way, the Ravens shot 68% (11-16) from the floor and were 100% from the free-throw line. And at the end of 30 minutes of play, the visitors had re-stored and extended their earlier lead to 54-45.

In the fourth, however, the Blues found a way to gather themselves, outscoring their opponent 29-17. Hutton again had the hot hand, scoring 10 of her game-high 22 points in the final frame, and Kinnear kicked things into a new gear, tallying 10 of her 13 points and eight of her game-high 10 boards in the final five minutes of the game.

Schutz finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Erin McNeely (Kingston, Ont.) added eight, including 2-2 from beyond the arc.

Jelic finished with a team-high 20 points and six rebounds for the Gee-Gees. Perry added 19, while Courtney Smith (Ottawa), Ashleigh Cleary (Kemptville, Ont.), and Kelly Killoran (Sarnia, Ont.) each had eight apiece.

The Blues are on the road for their final two regular season contests with stops at York and at Laurentian, and look to secure a first-round bye in the opening round of the OUA playoffs.

NOTE: The Faculty of Physical Education and Health and the Varsity Blues honoured graduating athlete Tara Kinnear as well as head coach Michèle Bélanger for her 30 years of coaching excellence.