By: Mackenzie Dalgleish
Box Score
Nampa, ID - The Simon Fraser University Clan women's basketball team moved into a tie for second place on Saturday night, ending the week with a 75-57 victory over the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders on the road.
Coming off of a win on Thursday against Central Washington, the Clan again came out slow in the opening minutes, but warmed up going on a 7-0 run to take a 9-8 lead following an Ellen Kett (Niddrie, AUS) jumper as SFU was able to pass the ball around the Crusaders zone defence.
"I think we were better defensively," said Head Coach Bruce Langford on the week. "We were better in Central defensively than we had been. I thought we were better defensively today than we've been. We had 36 defensive boards, we contested a lot of shots, which made for a lot of boards."
Senior Kia Van Laare (New Westminster, BC) entered the game off the bench and made a three-pointer after a nice Clan defensive stand forcing the turnover. After another strong defensive effort on the ensuing possession, Meg Wilson (London, ON) laid the ball in to make push the Clan's run to 14-1 as they led 16-9.
Van Laare would make another three-pointer and then juniors Erin Chambers (Mission, BC) and Katie Lowen (Lethbridge, AB) would each make three-pointers of their own to stretch SFU's lead to thirteen, 28-15 midway through the first half.
Chambers would finish with a game high 21 points, while Van Laare added 10 points and five rebounds, and Lowen chipped in with 12 points.
Senior Rebecca Langmead (Torbay, NL) made two free throws to end the opening 20 minutes, sending the Clan into the locker room up 39-24. Langmead ended the game with seven points, six rebounds and five blocked shots.
SFU continued their strong play on both sides of the court as Chambers made another three-pointer off of a Chelsea Reist (Mission, BC) offensive rebound and then moments later Van Laare made good on another three-point attempt, giving the Clan a 52-28 advantage.
The Clan would see their lead reach twenty-eight points, 61-33 midway through the second half, before the Crusaders would pick things up.
It was not enough though, as the SFU cruised to the 18 point victory, improving their record to 14-6 overall and 9-4 in conference play.
Marie-Line Petit (Bergeronnes, QC) contributed a team high six assists in the winning effort.
"Defensively we were very good in the first half and the first ten minutes of the second half," explained Langford. "I thought it was nice we shared the scoring, when you have four people in double digits scoring, it is really nice.
"Meg's 14 rebounds were huge, so were Rebecca's five blocks, and Chelsea Reist had some good offensive boards."
Wilson finished with her second straight double-double as she scored 13 points and a game high 14 rebounds. Reist had six rebounds, with three being on the offensive side of the ball.
For the second time in as many weeks, SFU held their opponents to zero three point shots made.
The win improves the Clan's record to 14-6 on the year and 9-4 in conference play as the win pushes the Clan into a tie for second place in the conference.
SFU will return home next week, as they host Western Oregon on Thursday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m. and Saint Martin's Saturday also at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday's game will be the Clan's Pink Game+ in support of children's cancer charities. It is also the final home game of the season for the Clan meaning it is the final game in the West Gym for graduating seniors Petit, Langmead, Van Laare and Reist.
