By: Navya Malik
On Saturday evening, the SFU women’s basketball team hosted Western Oregon for the second part of a two-game homestand. They regained some momentum after suffering a tough loss to Concordia University on Thursday night. After an ugly first quarter, SFU made a potent comeback in this game, eventually taking the win by a decisive score of 74–57.
The Clan “learnt a lot” from the past defeat, according to Jessica Wallace, assistant coach of the team. She added that from the very beginning, the team kept in mind to be strong on the defensive end rather than just offence.
The game started with SFU’s Tayla Jackson taking the lead by hitting a pair of free throws. However, the Wolves bounced back quickly, going on an eight-point run to make the score 8–2. Western Oregon would hold the lead for the rest of the quarter, ending the frame with a six-point lead at 20–14.
In the second quarter, however, SFU took control of the game. The Clan made sure to play together “as a team and better than before”, according to Wallace. The team defence greatly improved, holding Western Oregon to only eight points. Tayla Jackson was dominant on the offensive end as well, as the Clan went into the half with a 32–28 lead.
As mentioned by head coach Bruce Langford, “[Jessica] Jones was really good
defensively and offensively and Tayla was good offensively.” At this point, Jackson was leading the game with 12 points.
Keeping the strategy of strong communication, SFU didn’t give up many chances to the Wolves to score baskets in the third quarter, either. They went into the fourth with a 56–43 lead, and didn’t look back.
The game finished with SFU grabbing 32 rebounds, compared to Western Oregon’s 35, 11 of which were on the offensive glass. The Clan also took advantage of their free throws, making 20 of 22 on the night.
Jackson led the game with 22 points on 7–11 field goals, while going a perfect 8–8 from the charity stripe.
The Wolves are known for their “offensive habits” and were shut down by SFU’s “passion and pride,” and by keeping the “lethargic” approach aside, as experienced in the previous game, said Langford post-match.
They will next head on the road as they travel to Seattle to take on Falcons on Thursday night.
