On Thursday, February 14, the women’s basketball team hosted the Seattle Pacific University Falcons on Burnaby Mountain. It may have been snowing outside, but it was much hotter in the West Gym as Sophie Swant caught fire for a career-high 34 points to lead her team to victory.

From the tip off, it was evident that Swant was going to have a special night. She scored back-to-back triples early in the first quarter, helping the Clan get off to an early lead. By the end of the first half, she had 15 points, including three-pointers.

SFU led by a slim margin at this point, by a score of 37–34.

In the second half, however, they blew the score open behind an amazing half from Swant. She scored three three-pointers in the third quarter, two of them coming in the final minute of the frame. She stayed hot through the break, also knocking down a three in the first minute of the fourth quarter that gave the Clan a 10 point lead. She finished the second half with 19 points, including going 5–7 from behind the arc.

When it was all said and done, SFU won by a score of 82–61. Apart from Swant, point guard Tayler Drynan also had a strong game, finishing with 17 points and eight assists. Kendall Sands was the only other player in double figures for SFU, finishing with 10 points.

With the win, the Clan are 11–4 in the GNAC this season, and 15–7 overall. In their last 10 games, however, SFU is 9–1, playing some of the best basketball in the West Region right now. They sit comfortably in third place in the GNAC, behind Alaska Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene, who are both 14–1.

Player of the game: Sophie Swant

The obvious choice, Swant may have played her best game in a Clan jersey on Valentine’s Day. She finished with a career-high 34 points, and was absolutely unstoppable from behind the three-point line, going 8–13 from behind the arc. She was also tenacious on the defensive end, leading the game with six steals, and also got her teammates involved with four assists. On the season, she leads the Clan with 15.3 points per game (tied for second in the GNAC), as well as leading SFU with 2.1 steals per game.

What’s next:

The Clan will now host Saint Martin’s University on Saturday, February 16. Since it is the last home game of the season, the team and fans will be saying goodbye to the Seniors on the team for Senior Night. Come say bye to Sophie Swant and Samantha Beauchamp as they play their last basketball game on Burnaby Mountain. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.