By: Mackenzie Dalgleish
Box Score
Burnaby, BC - The Simon Fraser University Clan women's basketball team came away with the 77-68 victory against the Seattle Pacific University Falcons Thursday evening in the West Gym. The win stretched the Clans win streak to four and ended the Falcons at five.
It was a fast paced matchup as the teams raced out to an 11-10 SFU lead just over five minutes into the game following an Erin Chambers (Mission, BC) three-pointer.
Meg Wilson (London, ON) had a strong defensive showing in the first half, stealing and picking off passes leading to Clan baskets as SFU went into the half leading 34-29.
Chambers finished with 20 points and five rebounds, while Wilson added seven points and three steals.
In the second half, the Falcons battled back to make it a one possession game, but junior Katie Lowen (Lethbridge, AB) stole the ball from the Seattle Pacific player, which led to Chambers showing off a nice hand switch for the layup, to make the score 39-34.
"We had a real good handle on things that were happening on the floor," said Lowen. "The communication (between each other) really showed."
Later leading 47-42, Chambers would suffer a dislocated ring finger, forcing her to the sideline where it was popped back into place keeping her out for just a few minutes.
During that time, the Clan held onto their five point lead as Wilson cut to the hoop scoring off of a nice pass by Marie-Line Petit (Bergeronnes, QC). Petit then had a beautiful reverse layup and then a jumper to give the Clan a 53-47 lead. Petit ended the game with nine points and a team high seven rebounds and four assists.
"I thought we did a really good job doing a bunch of things," explained Head Coach Bruce Langford. "When Erin dislocated her finger, it was 'yikes,' [but] I thought the team held the fort and kept momentum."
Chambers returned seconds later, which seemed to lift the Clan, as the offence exploded.
Lowen hit two straight three-pointers as she finished five-of-eight from behind the arc, leading to a game high 23 points, as well as adding five rebounds.
When Chambers re-entered the game, the Clan would go on a 13-2 run to distance themselves from the Falcons.
With the game well in hand, Seattle Pacific would go on a 16-7 run to close out the game, as SFU finished with the nine point victory.
"When Erin got hurt, we took a deep breath and we had to re-gather ourselves," said Lowen. "We did a good job staying composed."
SFU shot an impressive 41 percent from the three-point line and 46 percent overall, while holding Seattle Pacific to zero-of-eleven from behind the arc.
"We just hit a lot of shots at a crucial time to put it away," finished Langford.
The Clan will be back in action this Saturday at 5:15 p.m. against Montana State University-Billings in the West Gym.
