By: Jade Richardson
Box Score Bellingham, WA – The Simon Fraser University women's basketball team were unable to hang on to their undefeated Great Northwest Athletic Conference record as they lost a tight game at the buzzer to the number 11 Western Washington University Vikings 59-57.
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (Toronto, ON) was able to record her ninth double-double of the season, leading all Clan players with 14 points and 21 rebounds in the game.
"Both teams started off slow and both defences were better than the offence in the early going," said head coach
Bruce Langford. "We weren't very effective offensively overall and Nayo's 21 boards kept us in the game. They play very good defence and it took us out of our offensive game a bit."
Viking Britt Harris scored 14 points for the home side, two of which came as time expired to give Western Washington the win.
Kristina Collins (Port Coquitlam, BC) and
Erin Chambers (Mission, BC) added 13 and 11 points each to the Clan effort.
The first half was a defensive battle throughout with neither side able to gain much of an advantage.
The first basket came four minutes into the game when
Katie Lowen (Lethbridge, AB) scored to make it 2-0 after numerous chances for both teams.
Three minutes later the lead would change as the Vikings scored five of the next seven points to take a 5-4 lead.
WWU held the lead until the 7:06 mark when
Carla Wyman (North Vancouver, BC), who was playing in her first GNAC game of the season after recovering from injury, sank a three to make it 12-10 for the Clan.
SFU would outscore the Vikings 17-13 throughout the rest of the first half as the Clan took a 29-23 lead into the locker room, with Chambers and Wyman leading the scoring with six points each.
The Vikings opened the second half on a tear, going on a 12-5 run to open up the second frame and take a 34-33 lead with 16:37 remaining.
Western Washington would lead for the next 10 minutes, until a three pointer from Chambers with 6:29 to play put the Clan back in front.
The Clan would lead for most of the next five minutes, until Western Washington took the lead back thanks to a layup from Sarah Hill with 54 seconds remaining, setting up a wild finish.
SFU first tied it with a layup from Raincock-Ekunwe, only to have WWU take back the two point advantage before Raincock-Ekunwe tied it again with six seconds left.
With the game appearing to be headed for overtime, Corinn Waltrip found Harris open, and with time expiring the Vikings leading scorer in the game sunk the basket and secured the win for the Vikings, handing the Clan a heartbreaking first GNAC loss of the season.
With the loss, the Clan's GNAC record drops to 4-1, and their season record dips to 11-2.
The Clan women are back at home Thursday, January 17 as they take on the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets at 7:00 p.m. in the West Gym. Admission is free for SFU students.
