Anyone who has seen SFU women’s basketball team defend its home territory knows what they’re capable of on a basketball court. The Clan took over Cal Poly Pomona Broncos for the second time in a row on Saturday in a 56–47 win.
“We came out with a totally different game plan today,” said Head Coach Bruce Langford. “That was a challenge because it takes us out of our style. When push came to shove, we did hit some shots in a crucial time — but that came despite [the fact] that we were annihilated on the boards, we shot a poor shooting percentage, and it wasn’t one of our best performances overall.”
The Clan played a total of four games in five days and are now on an eight-game winning streak, with only one loss on the table against California Baptist University for the 2016/2017 season so far. SFU displayed a much stronger performance defensively, but their offence was not at its peak, with a 36.7 percent shooting percentage.
Ellen Kett stood strong in the defense with a total of five steals. The senior guard, who played 40 minutes, had seven rebounds and eight assists during the game.
The Bruce Langford era continues to provide some talented players on the court. Ozi Nwabuko, who was described as one of the fastest players by head coach Bruce Langford, made the storyline against Cal Poly Pomona during the first contest of the two-game series. Nwabuko filled the score sheet in both games with 19 on Friday and 13 points on Saturday. Freshman guard Tia Tsang notched 11 points, while Tayla Jackson added 10.
“I think [they are] all contributing in some various ways. I’m pleased with our rookies, they’ve come along nicely. I think we just need to get a consistent performance out of everybody. We are going on a hell of a hard road trip,” said Langford.
“I thought we had a reasonable number of skills, more than we usually get, so that was a bit of a positive thing. I think our turnovers were down. That piece was good.”
Despite a tight point difference at the beginning of the second stanza, sophomore Sophie Swant and freshman Tia Tsang came back with some quality shots from behind the three-point line and increased the difference to 14 points (50–36) with approximately five minutes left into the contest. A late-game effort from Cal Poly Pomona was not enough to get around the Clan’s skill set, and the game resulted in a nine points difference victory.
The Clan, who faced major issues with lining up healthy players on the court last year, is currently deprived of Vanessa Gee and Elisa Homer. An official statement on the player’s’ ability to play against Alaska Anchorage has not been made yet, but head coach Langford said he thinks “they’re both going to travel, but we still haven’t heard officially.”
The Clan will head to Alaska, as they prepare to take on Alaska Anchorage Seawolves. The game is scheduled for Wednesday, November 30.
