SFU maintains second place with two conference wins

By Bryan Scott

After an up-and-down week, SFU’s women’s basketball team was ready to get back to a bit of roll as the season heads down to the wire.

They had two important conference games. First on the road against the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets, then they headed home to face the Central Washington University Wildcats. MSUB was not ready for the Clan to start the game and allowed SFU to take a 17–9 lead over the first 10 minutes. The Yellowjackets responded over the remainder of the half, but SFU still had a six-point lead at halftime. Once again, SFU dominated the first minutes of the half.

They opened up an 18-point lead, with help from a 17–5 run. The Yellowjackets tried to get back in the game, but it was too much to overcome, SFU took the game 61–55.

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe was a dominating force, she scored 21 points and snagged
21 rebounds. Her double-double total for the season is putting Tim Hortons to shame. Erin Chambers knocked down 21 points of her own in the win. SFU started out their game against the Wildcats impressively, not allowing them to score
a point for almost five minutes. After falling down by nine points, CWU picked up their game a bit, and managed to cut the lead to only five by halftime, 31–26. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, SFU never gave up the lead.

The Clan kept up with them, despite being outscored 28–24 in the paint and 17–4 off the bench in the second half. In the end, SFU enjoyed a seven-point victory, 67–60.

Raincock-Ekunwe fell three assists short of a triple-double but provided her usual doubledouble with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Kristina Collins chipped
in 16 points and six assists, and Chelsea Reist had 15 points. These two important wins give the Clan some breathing room in the standings, as they now have two more conference wins than third place Northwest Nazarene. The latest win was also head coach Bruce Langford’s 299th collegiate win, bringing him very close to reaching a great milestone in his career.