OSHAWA, Ont. – With a full roster of first-year players, the Ontario Tech women's curling team went into the OUA championship this year looking to gain experience, but also show they can compete with other schools around the province.
 
"All in all, it was great experience for the team," said head coach Mike Stauffer. We learned a lot as a team and each player learned a lot about themselves. I'm so proud of each one of them. It was a great weekend to build off and they represented Ontario Tech with pride and dignity."
 
Hosted by the Waterloo Warriors in Kitchener, the championship opened on Friday with the Ridgebacks facing the nine-time champion Laurier Golden Hawks. Laurier was quick out of the gate, going up 6-0 through two, but at the break the Ridgebacks had closed the gap to 6-3. A four-ender and a steal of one by the Golden Hawks brought the game to an 11-3 end. 
 
The Ridgebacks were in tough again on Friday night, falling 9-2 to the Carleton Ravens. After two they trailed 3-1, with Carleton scoring two in back-to-back ends to take a 7-1 lead into the break. 
 
Saturday morning against the Trent Excalibur, Ontario Tech kept things close, stealing one to open the game. After a Trent scored two with hammer, the Ridgebacks answered with three of their own as the two teams ended up tied 4-4 at the fourth-end break. 
 
Ontario Tech scored one with hammer in the fifth before the Excalibur scored a deuce and a steal en route to an 8-5 final. 
 
The final game of the weekend, saw the Algoma Thunderbirds steal their way to a 7-1 victory. After trading points with hammer through the first half of the game, which saw Algoma up 2-1 at the break, they stole in three straight ends to pick up the victory. 
 
This wraps up the official OUA portion of the Ridgebacks season.