The Clan continued their strong play on Thursday night, as they travelled to Portland to defeat the Concordia Cavaliers. It was a great team win with many contributors up and down the lineup.
In the first quarter, Ozi Nwabuko hit her only field goal attempt of the game to make the game 7–6 in favour of Simon Fraser. Two early fouls by Ellen Kett made the Clan take out their point guard early, but it didn’t deter them. By the end of the quarter, two Sophie Swant free throws extended the lead to eight, making the score 23–15.
Simon Fraser doubled Concordia 26–13 in the second quarter without Kett even stepping on the court, showing the opponent why they are one of the top teams in the conference. By the end of the half, Meg Wilson was leading all scorers with nine points, adding in two blocks and two steals. For a team that often relies heavily on Kett’s skill set, the Clan was doing more than alright. Simon Fraser went into the half with a comfortable lead of 49–28.
The second half was almost a mirror image of the first, as two early fouls by Kett sent her back to the bench early in the third quarter. Again without their minutes leader, Simon Fraser continued to keep their lead. A Sophie Swant three-pointer gave the Clan a 67–46 lead going into the fourth quarter in a game that was all but already over.
Unsurprisingly, the team maintained this lead throughout the last quarter, eventually winning the game 88–68.
It was a game in which no individual performance stood out, but rather, had a variety of solid contributions throughout the team. Meg Wilson led the team with a solid stat line of 13 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Sophie Swant had 12 points off the bench, including two threes. Ellen Kett provided 12 points in only 15 minutes, less than half of the 32-plus minutes she is averaging for the season. Elisa Homer and Tayler Drynan rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Clan, with 11 and 10 points respectively.
With this win the Clan has improved to 10–1 in their last 11 games, with their only loss coming to Western Washington in that span. They are now 9–2 in conference play, and 18–3 overall.
Next Game: The Clan will round up their Oregon trip on Saturday, as they visit the Western Oregon University Wolves. The Wolves are tied for second-last in the conference with a 3–8 conference record, and have a 7–11 record overall. They are lead by Shelby Snook, who averages 15.7 points in 35.3 minutes per game.
