MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Simon Fraser University women's basketball won a low-scoring affair against the Western Oregon University Wolves on Thursday, 62-45.
"We started slow," said Head Coach
Bruce Langford. "We didn't have much fire in our belly. As Courtney (Assistant Coach Gerwing) said, we played quite uninspired. We were better in the second half at moving the ball. That got us some better looks to shoot the three and our free throw shooting improved."
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (Toronto) led the Clan to victory in their second last conference game of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds, adding another double-double to her GNAC career leading total, now at 58.
Kristina Collins (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) also added 14 points and two assists to SFU's campaign while
Katie Lowen (Lethbridge, Alta.) had four assists.
Wolves forward Dana Goularte led the home side with 19 points on the night.
The Clan shot 40 percent from the field in the first half but caught fire in the second, shooting 54 per cent while the Simon Fraser defence held the Wolves to a 33 per cent shooting percentage on the night.
SFU outscored the home side off of turnovers 19-9 and outscored the Wolves 32-22 in the paint.
While Clan junior
Chelsea Reist (Mission, B.C.) opened the scoring Western Oregon outplayed the Clan early on, earning a 12-6 lead seven minutes into the game.
It would be the largest lead of the night for WOU as with 7:57 remaining, the Clan completed a 10-2 run with a Raincock-Ekunwe layup to make it 16-14 for the Clan.
Western Oregon would not lead again.
The Clan added one more to the lead before half time as SFU went into the locker rooms with a 25-22 lead.
The second half started slowly for both teams as the first points were not recorded until over four minutes into the half when Collins opened the scoring sinking a three pointer following a steal by Lowen.
That started a 15-4 run for the Clan, making the score 40-26 as SFU opened up a 14 point lead. The women from Burnaby Mountain would cruise from there to the 17-point victory.
With the win, the Clan's conference record improves to a 14-3, and 21-4 overall with just one regular season game remaining.
The Clan will play their final Great Northwest Athletic Conference match of the regular season this Saturday, February 2 when they face Saint Martin's University in Lacey, Wash. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
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