WESTERN OREGON VISITS THE WEST GYM
The Simon Fraser University women's basketball team will enter Thursday night's game against the Western Oregon Wolves with a 14-6 overall record, 9-4 in conference play, which is good enough for a tie for second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
After Thursday's game against Western Oregon, the Clan host Saint Martin's on Saturday in the teams PINK GAME+ on Saturday where proceeds from the game will go to support children's cancer research.
The game will also be the final home game for Clan seniors Kia Van Laare, Chelsea Reist, Marie-Line Petit and Rebecca Langmead.
In addition to all profits from ticket sales donated there will also be a silent auction and raffle. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
Following the game against Saint Martin's the Clan hit the road for their final three games of the GNAC season, first with a trip through Alaska on February 20 and 22 followed by the "Border Battle" in Bellingham on March 1 against the Western Washington Vikings.
Simon Fraser and Western Oregon last met on January 18 in a game the Clan won 56-47.
The two teams played a close game despite the two sides having nearly opposite conference records, as WOU is 3-9 compared to the Clan's 9-4.
Katie Lowen led the Clan in scoring in that game with 18 points while Langmenad hauled in 13 rebounds while Western Oregon was led by Dana Goularte who had 14 points and Elise Miller who grabbed 10 boards.
The game is also a match up of the two most prolific blockers in the conference as the Clan's Langmead leads the GNAC in blocks with 48 (2.4 per game) while Western Oregon's Goularte is close behind with 44 (2.2 per game).
Goularte is also among the conference's leading scorers, averaging 18.4 points per game which ranks her third behind Seattle Pacific's Katie Benson (19.8 per game) and Simon Fraser's own Erin Chambers who is leading the conference with an average of 23.1 points per game.
CLAN MEN VISIT FIRST PLACE SEATTLE PACIFIC
The Clan men's basketball team faces a tough test on Thursday night visiting first place SPU in Seattle but although the Clan lost the previous meeting between the two teams, 73-49 in the West Gym on January 18, the Clan have showed they can play with, and beat, the conference's best in recent weeks.
Over the past two weeks the Clan have lost a pair of heartbreakers, dropping games by one point to Alaska Anchorage, who was in fourth place at the time, and to second place Western Washington.
Sandwiched in between those games was a convincing victory for the Clan as they defeated the third place Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks 70-60 in the West Gym on February 1.
Couple that with the Clan's first conference win of the season three weeks ago against the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders and it's fair to say that the Clan are playing their best basketball of the season.
Simon Fraser will need to be firing on all cylinders against the powerful Falcons who are 20-4 on the season and 11-2 in conference play.
