On a night that was focused on Clan head coach Bruce Langford, who became SFU’s winningest coach, the women’s basketball team did not disappoint.
The Western Oregon Wolves were no match for the Clan Saturday evening, who notched a 20-point win. With a final score of 76–56, SFU dominated the game from the opening tip, never giving up the lead, which peaked at 23 points.
Clan forward Meg Wilson started out strong, as Western Oregon’s defence failed to deal with her early. She ended the game with 19 points and nine rebounds, most of her baskets coming from layups and easy points inside.
Western Oregon rallied to within five points late in the first half behind the play of Sami Osborne. Wolves center Emily Howey went down with an ankle injury in the first half and would not return to the game, eliminating Western Oregon’s interior presence.
After the break, the Wolves continued to push the Clan, causing turnovers and misses early in the second half.
The Clan recovered by focusing their defence and scoring 21 points off turnovers. Ellen Kett had a great outing for SFU, finishing with seven rebounds, 10 assists and three steals.
The onslaught continued, with the Clan mixing outside shots with interior baskets. This was sparked by the commanding performance from senior and team captain Erin Chambers, who was without a doubt the star of the game. She shot 8–15, including a stellar 3–5 from long distance.
Western Oregon’s backcourt played hard with Elise and Jasmine Miller tallying three steals each.
However, the Clan would not be denied, and the night belonged to Coach Langford who was given a standing ovation at the end of the game. With a record of 364–86 (0.809) he becomes the most successful coach in SFU sports history, surpassing former Clan coach Allison McNeill.
After the game, Langford was grateful but remained focused.
“It was nice because some of my ex-players came out. But I like the fact that we got a league win more than anything else,” he told The Province. “I’d have been really choked if we didn’t. These were must-win games”.
