SFU women’s time to shine
Barrage of 3s stuns Alaska-anchorage
Bruce Langford has won a lot of conference games during his 11 seasons as the head coach of the Simon Fraser Clan women’s basketball program.
It’s hard to imagine one bigger than the one he got last night atop Burnaby Mountain.
The visiting Alaska-anchorage Seawolves, ranked No. 8 among the 282 NCAA Div. 2 women’s basketball programs, came into Sfu’s west gym riding a 13-game winning streak and leading the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a perfect 5-0 record.
But a Clan team that had struggled shooting the three-point ball through the early portion of the season shot the trey like they were taking part in the NBA’S AllStar weekend, knocking down 14 of 22 shots from distance, a firebreathing 64-per-cent clip that carried the underdogs to a stunning 77-69 victory.
“I would say that might be the best team we have played in the league in a number of years, wouldn’t you say,” said a beaming Langford, whose team improved to 4-2 in GNAC play, matching a win total last season’s team needed the full 18-game schedule to achieve.
“Good teams sometimes bring the best out of us and sometimes we play to the level of our competition. Our girls had a lot of respect for that team.”
After starting the game shooting 1-for-10 from the field and turning the ball over eight times, the Clan found itself trailing 13-3. The three-point shot, however, proved to be its saviour.
Simon Fraser came into the contest sitting ninth in the 10-team GNAC in three-point shooting percentage (24.3 per cent), yet it unleashed a fury of shots from distance that hit the mark. SFU was 7-of-12 from downtown in the first half and an even better 7-of-10 in the second.
Over a span of 8:50 in the opening half, the Clan turned a 10-point deficit into a 10-point lead, starting the ride from 13-3 down to 33-23 up on a trey by guard Kia Van Laare.
When the dust had cleared, Van Laare, Carla Wyman and Erin Chambers had each knocked down a pair of triples as part of the 30-10 run.
However the Seawolves finished the half on a 9-0 run and pulled to within 33-31 at the break.
SFU withstood a pair of second-half flurries from Anchorage, and after trailing the visitors 42-39, went on a 15-1 run that put them ahead 54-43 with 11:33 remaining. From that point on, it was like playoff basketball.
On the night, a Seawolves team that was holding its foes to a conference-best 32 per cent from the field yielded 52 per cent to the Clan.
Point guard Kristina Collins sizzled throughout, finishing with a team-high 18 points, including 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Chambers finished with 15 points, including four triples, while Wyman and forward Chelsea Reist each added 13.
Clan forward Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, who battled foul trouble in the second half, finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. SFU hosts Alaska-fairbanks on Saturday in a 7 p.m. start.