“Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” wrote Dylan Thomas in 1951.
Although the women’s season finally came to an end in a 74–70 loss against Alaska Anchorage, the Clan fought defeat to the very end. They came back from two deficits of at least 18 points, but they couldn’t find a way to beat the eighth-ranked Seawolves.
In spite of the defeat, the Clan remain positive about their effort, and their season past, as well as next year’s.
“I thought we showed a lot of resiliency,” said head coach Bruce Langford post-game, “especially being down 18 twice and coming back against a top 10 team that’s deep and very physical.”
The Clan actually out-performed the Seawolves in every statistic, save for the one that shows up on the scoreboard.
“We had a couple of missed opportunities that ultimately hurt us,” said Langford of his team’s final undoing. The team was typically clutch late in the game, but the heroics fell just short. Really though, coming off a victory in their first-ever NCAA playoff game, there’s little to be upset about the 2011–2012 season.
“We returned a lot of players this year and had some new kids come in that showed a lot of improvement,” continued Langford. Building off a strong returning corps was a blessing for the Clan, as they didn’t have to waste much time getting familiar with each other. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe and Kristina Collins, two players who earned a lot of well-deserved attention (both from the opposition and the media) only strengthened their already-dangerous chemistry, and the duo became on of the most potent threats in the GNAC. Other players, like Carla Wyman or Chelsea Reist, or even freshman Erin Chambers developed into a strong secondary-scoring group for the Clan, and the team’s bench players were more-than-capable replacements. Really, the only knock on the team is a lack of consistency, something they know full well they need to address moving forward.
“Next year, we need to work on being more consistent,” said a succinct Langford. “We always need to get stronger and more skilled,” he added, but consistency was at the top of the list. Just as this year was one full of returners though, next season will be much the same. The only graduating senior is Anna Carolsfeld, which leaves the team — and its chemistry — largely intact.
That will no doubt help the Clan improve on all they need to — from the big things like consistency to the much more nitty-gritty — but there’s more than enough time for that. Right now, it’s about the season that was, as it was one of the most impressive seasons a Clan team has put forth since SFU joined the NCAA.
Of course, no one on the roster was happy to see their season draw to a close, but they didn’t wilt away when they were down; they fought until time simply ran out.
“The team needs to feel pretty proud about how they played [against Alaska Anchorage]. I’m so proud of them,” said Langford, and for good reason.
“Do not go gentle into that good night,” wrote Thomas. The Clan certainly didn’t.
