Clan women’s basketball team sinks Vikings, can’t cage Falcons
By Bryan Scott
The Simon Fraser women’s basketball team was in action twice over the reading break, playing the first place Western Washington University Vikings, and the Seattle Pacific University Falcons.
The game between the Clan and Vikings had been highly anticipated since both teams are at the top of the league. SFU has not beaten WWU in any conference games since 2010. The first half was tight as expected. Both teams had something to prove, especially the Clan.
Unfortunately, it was the Vikings who found their footing first and took a small lead to start the game. SFU battled back to tie the game at five, but then found themselves behind once again.
The Vikings went on a 12–6 run over the next five minutes to take the lead by six points just over halfway into the first half. The Clan were still trailing with 5:43 left in the first, when they decided to go on a run of their own, and closed out the half with a three point, 35–32 lead. SFU exploded out of the locker rooms determined to keep their lead. They did more than that — pushing their lead to 18 points by the 10 minute mark. Erin Chambers had 11 points in the half to help the Clan demolish, WWU 74–59. Katie Lowen led the Clan with 17 points and four rebounds, but there were four other SFU athletes in the double-digits for scoring.
For their efforts, the Clan became the top-rated team in the West Region moving up to number eight on the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll rankings. They are ranked one ahead of the Vikings who are in ninth. They were also named the GNAC team of the week for ending the
Vikings 11-game win streak. Next, the Clan traveled down to Seattle, Washington to face another conference rival, the SPU Falcons. Both teams worked hard in the paint, and knocked down key shots in the first half. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe was scored half of SFU’s points in the half, scoring 17 of their 34 in the first, but the game was tied at halftime.
Despite having an excellent second half against the Vikings, the Falcons were too much for the Clan. Raincock-Ekunwe was relatively silent in the remainder of the game but still finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for yet another double-double on the season.
Head coach Bruce Langford credited SPU in the loss, “We faced a very determined team who competed very hard and shot the ball extremely well tonight,” he said in a press release. After that the Clan hit the road to Montana, to face the Yellowjackets of Montana Billings State.
