Box Score Bellingham, WA - The Simon Fraser University women's basketball team advanced to the NCAA West Region title game after defeating the Grand Canyon University Antelopes on
Monday, 76-59.
"I thought we did a good job of containing their two big scorers," said Head Coach
Bruce Langford. Judy Jones is obviously a great driver and we tried to clog up the lane and give her some problems in there. We didn't want Maylinn Smith to go off on threes and I thought we contested them pretty hard. I was pleased with our defensive intensity the whole game."
The Clan will face the number one ranked Western Washington Vikings who defeated the sixth ranked Cal State Monterey Bay Otters in the other semi-final, at 6:00 p.m. on
Tuesday.
Kristina Collins (Port Coquitlam, BC) led the Clan scoring 19 points and notching five assists. She was the game leader in both categories.
Collins was five for seven from beyond the arc in the game, four for four from the charity stripe and added three rebounds and two steals.
"I liked our mental and physical preparation," said Collins. "We took care of our bodies on our off day and were ready to come out and play hard. I was excited about my shooting. I wasn't thinking about it but I felt good and the shots seemed to come naturally."
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (Toronto, ON) followed with 15 points and grabbed a game high 11 rebounds.
Erin Chambers (Mission, BC) and
Katie Lowen (Lethbridge, AB) each had 11 points. Chambers also had a team high three steals and was a perfect four for four from the field, including two three pointers.
SFU shot 57 percent in the game, 53 percent from beyond the arc and 80 percent from the free through line while GCU could only manage 36 percent shooting, 25 percent from three point range and 73 percent from the free throw line.
The Antelopes had three players in double digits, as Maylinn Smith had 17 points, Judy Jones had 15 and Jasmine Cannon had 11.
A strong first half was key in the Clan's win as Simon Fraser outscored GCU 42-26 in the opening 20 minutes.
With the Clan women leading 23-20 with 7:54 remaining in the opening half Raincock-Ekunwe hit a jumper that sparked a 10-0 run for the Clan.
By the end of the half, the Clan run was expanded to 19-6, and SFU took their 16-point lead into the locker room.
"Despite the lead we didn't do a good job on the boards in the first half. We tried to fix that in the second half an re-inforce what we were doing with their two top players," continued Langford.
SFU capitalized on GCU turnovers in the first half, outscoring the Antelopes 16-2 off of turnovers.
The Clan lead got as high as 24 points in the second half when Raincock-Ekunwe hit a jumper with 10:39 remaining, and
Belce Yoruk (Kesan, Turkey) matched it when she made a jumper with 5:49 remaining.
With 24 seconds left, Lowen put in a layup to wrap things up, giving the Clan a 17 point victory.
Simon Fraser now moves on to the "Sweet 16" on
Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. for the NCAA West Region title game against the winner of WWU.
The Clan and the Vikings met twice during the regular season, which each team winning once and most recently met in the GNAC Championship game last weekend that the Vikings won.
SFU will be sending a free bus to Bellingham for the game, departing at 3:00 p.m. Fans interested in going on the bus should email
tickets@sfu.ca as space is limited.
Tickets for the game will be available for purchase at the gymnasium prior to the game.
Newspaper Box Score
Grand Canyon vs Simon Fraser
03/18/13 12:00 PM at Carver Gym - Bellingham, WA
At Carver Gym - Bellingham, WA
SIMON FRASER 76, GRAND CANYON 59
GRAND CANYON (23-9)
Smith, Maylinn 8-19 0-0 17; Jones, Judy 5-9 5-9 15; Cannon, Jasmine 4-8 3-4
11; Johnson, Justine 1-7 4-4 7; Ekweozor, Chigozie 1-3 2-2 5; Daniels,
Deanna 1-5 2-3 4; Young, Kim 0-1 0-0 0; Pearson, Jenna 0-3 0-0 0; Paskell,
Erica 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 16-22 59.
SIMON FRASER (25-5)
Collins,Kristina 5-9 4-4 19; Raincock-Ekunwe,Nayo 7-10 1-2 15; Chambers,Erin
4-4 1-1 11; Lowen,Katie 3-4 4-4 11; Reist,Chelsea 1-5 2-2 4; Wyman,Carla 2-5
0-0 4; Wilson,Meg 2-3 0-0 4; Langmead,Rebecca 1-2 0-0 2; Petit,Marie-Line
1-2 0-0 2; Van Laare,Kia 1-4 0-2 2; Yoruk,Belce 1-1 0-0 2; Spacek,Michelle
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-49 12-15 76.
Grand Canyon.................. 26 33 - 59
Simon Fraser.................. 42 34 - 76
3-point goals--Grand Canyon 3-12 (Johnson, Justine 1-4; Ekweozor, Chigozie
1-1; Smith, Maylinn 1-6; Pearson, Jenna 0-1), Simon Fraser 8-15
(Collins,Kristina 5-7; Chambers,Erin 2-2; Lowen,Katie 1-2; Wyman,Carla 0-2;
Petit,Marie-Line 0-1; Van Laare,Kia 0-1). Fouled out--Grand Canyon-None,
Simon Fraser-None. Rebounds--Grand Canyon 35 (Ekweozor, Chigozie 8), Simon
Fraser 25 (Raincock-Ekunwe,Nayo 11). Assists--Grand Canyon 7 (Jones, Judy
3), Simon Fraser 16 (Collins,Kristina 5). Total fouls--Grand Canyon 15,
Simon Fraser 18. Technical fouls--Grand Canyon-None, Simon Fraser-None.
A-175
NCAA II West Region Semifinal
#6 Grand Canyon vs. #2 Simon Fraser
