Basketball - W | 12/7/2014 12:08:00 AM

Box Score BURNABY, B.C. – Simon Fraser University came back from a 14-point deficit to defeat Western Washington University, 74-71 on Saturday, in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball opener for both schools before 700 fans at the West Gym at SFU.

The Clan, which improved to 5-2, got a game-high 23 points from senior forward Erin Chambers (Mission, BC), who entered the contest averaging an NCAA Division II-leading 26.0 points. Junior forward Meg Wilson (London, ON) had a double-double for the Clan with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Watch the game on demand in HD: WBB - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bux4Y5MhV8Y

WWU had a four-game winning streak snapped as it fell to 5-3 overall.

The Vikings were ahead by as many as 14 points, 40-26, late in the first half, and by nine, 52-43, with 14:39 left in the contest. A Tia Briggs jumper gave WWU its last lead, 65-64, with 3:25 remaining.

"In the first half we were giving them too many open looks so we new we had to do a better job defensively contesting their shots and a getting our hands in their faces," said Chambers. "All we talked about at halftime was defence."

"It was a big lift off our shoulders to finally grab the lead and re-set our mentality to get more defensive stops," she added.

Chambers, who scored 15 of her points in the second half, converted three free throws and Wilson followed with a layup as SFU took a four-point advantage, 69-65, with 2:12 to go.

The Vikings narrowed the margin to two, 69-67, on a layup by center Kayla Bernsen with two minutes to play and again with three seconds left as Taylor Peacocke hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 72-70.

Both teams hit free throws and a last second shot by Peacocke from just inside the half-court line was off the mark.

Briggs came off the bench to pace the Vikings with 18 points and center Kayla Bernsen contributed 14 points and eight rebounds.

Next up for SFU are games against CSU Dominguez Hills on Dec 20 and Dec. 21. Both games start at 1:00 PM.