By: Jade Richardson
Burnaby, BC – The Simon Fraser University women's basketball team is set to tip-off at the 2013-14 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship this Wednesday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. against the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
The tournament which is hosted by Saint Martin's University in Lacey, WA will feature the top six teams from the conference.
The Clan open against SPU looking to advance to the tournament semi-finals against the team that finished first in the GNAC's regular season standings, the Montana State University–Billings Yellowjackets.
SFU won both matches against Seattle Pacific during the 2013-14 season, and will be looking to go 3-0 in the series this year, but if prior contests are any indication it should be a close game, as SFU won by scores of 63-60 and 77-68 in the previous two meetings.
"They are a very good team but one we have had some success with this year which is a positive," said Head Coach Bruce Langford. "That being said, it is very hard to beat a good team three times so our challenge will be to bring intensity like we have the last two times."
Erin Chambers (Mission, BC), coming off of a GNAC first-team all-star nomination, will look to lead her team through the game as the junior uses her conference leading scoring ability to aid the Clan's cause. Chambers has proven to be a force on the defensive side of the ball as well as evidenced by her 2012-13 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Award.
"I will take anyone who wants to step up here," continued Langford. "When you are in playoffs the teams are all excellent, so we need everyone to show up. The more pressure we can take off Erin to score will be a good thing, and tight defence will benefit us greatly."
The Falcons also have a first team all-star in Katie Benson who was SFU's biggest threat in the last two meetings, scoring 25 and 23 points to lead all players in each game.
The Clan will need to limit turnovers and improve on the boards versus SPU, as the Falcons scored 35 points off turnovers and 30 points off second-chance attempts in the last two match-ups.
Rebecca Langmead (Torbay, NL) will be a bit factor controlling those second-chance attempts while the entire team will look to take care of the ball and limit turnovers.
"It is cliché, but it is one game at a time currently so we are not thinking about Montana at this time," finished Langford. "If we do end up playing them we will need to do a better job handling their ball screens and working their post players in the key. They are a very well coached team that have a lot of pieces working for them."
Fans can tune into Wednesday's game on Clan TV through athletics.sfu.ca.
