By: Jade Richardson
Box Score
Burnaby, BC – The Simon Fraser University women's basketball team fought off a scrappy opponent from Central Washington University on Thursday night in the West Gym, defeating the Wildcats 67-60.
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (Toronto, ON) was the game leader in scoring with 19 points for the home side to go along with a game high 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Kristina Collins (Port Coquitlam, BC) and Chelsea Reist (Mission, BC) added 16 and 15 points each, which was a season high for Reist.
Reist also had her 2011-12 season high against the Wildcats when she scored 19 in a Clan win over Central Washington in the West Gym on February 16, 2012.
“I just really wanted it tonight,” explained Reist. “I came out hard on the ball and put it away when I needed to. I had a slow start to the season so to put together a good performance as we head down the stretch felt good."
Ally Schmidt was CWU's top scorer with 15 points for her team.
The Central Washington bench got the best of the Clan, outscoring SFU 28-9 but the Clan scored more off of turnovers, 19-10.
The Clan got off to an early lead, starting the game on a 9-0 run. Central Washington responded over the next five minutes, matching SFU as the score was 18-9 with 10:00 left in the half.
The Wildcats managed to sneak their way back into contention before the end of the half, as the two teams would head to the locker rooms with the score sitting at 31-26 for the home side.
The Clan produced more offence in the second half, scoring 36 points in the final 20 minutes but CWU did their best to match the home side, putting up 34 of their own.
Momentum bounced back and forth throughout the half, but the Clan never relinquished the lead, holding off every push from Central Washington.
With the win, the Clan's record improves to 12-3 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, and 19-4 overall.
The win inched Head Coach Bruce Langford within a win of a milestone, as it was the 299th victory of his collegiate coaching career.
The Clan women are back in action Saturday, February 23 in their final home game of the season as they face Northwest Nazarene University at 7:00 p.m. It will be the final home game for seniors Carla Wyman (North Vancouver, BC), Collins and Raincock-Ekunwe as the three will be honoured in a special pre-game ceremony.
It is also the Clan's annual Pink Zone game, where fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of cancer awareness. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the BC Cancer Foundation. Freshman Belce Yoruk (Kesan, Turkey) will also be supporting the cause as she is collecting donations and will have her head shaved after the game.
