BILLINGS, Mont. – An epic comeback by Simon Fraser University fell short in the final seconds as MSU Billings held on for a 67-62 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win at home over the Clan on Saturday.
The Clan trailed by double-digits for almost half of the game, but it came down to the final two minutes—the final few seconds in fact—before the outcome was decided.
The Yellowjackets led by as many as 15, but a 3-pointer by SFU's
Alisha Roberts closed the gap to three points, 65-62, with 19 seconds remaining. Stepping to the foul line, MSUB's Alisha Breen pushed the Yellowjacket lead back out to two possessions with a pair of free-throws.
A last minute shot by the Clan's
Elisa Homer missed, and the 'Jackets finished the night winning their seventh straight conference game for a 13-5 overall record and 9-1 in the GNAC to remain atop the standings. With the loss, Simon Fraser falls to 7-8 overall and an even 5-5 in the conference.
Roberts finished with a season-high 20 points for the Clan.
Elisa Homer added 18 as both players finished with four 3-pointers each.
Samantha Beauchamp added 12 points and senior
Ellen Kett collected seven rebounds and a game-high eight assists.
Breen finished with her seventh 20-plus point game of the season at 22 points for the Yellowjackets. Senior Janiel Olson recorded 13 rebounds.
From the field, MSUB shot 23-61 (37.7 percent) to 23-57 (40.4 percent) from SFU. The big difference was in 3-pointers as the Yellowjackets held Simon Fraser to under its 9.4 season-average at 8-of-25. In contrast, MSUB made 9-of-23 from 3-point territory for 39.1 percent. The Yellowjackets were stronger at the free-throw line (75.0 to 61.5 percent), and were big off the glass, outrebounding the Clan 44-32, including a 20-13 differential in offensive rebounds.
At the break, MSU Billings had a 10-point lead, 37-27. The Yellowjackets had their largest lead of the game at 42-27 early in the third quarter.
A 3-pointer from Roberts with four minutes left in the third quarter dropped the deficit down to eight, 45-37. Simon Fraser was able to keep the game in reach, chipping away at the Yellowjacket lead in the fourth quarter.
With less than two minutes remaining, Homer pushed the game down to four points. With 30 seconds left, Breen made two free-throws for a 65-59 lead. Roberts scored a 3-pointer to cut the lead to three, but Breen finished the game with another pair of free-throws.
Simon Fraser is at home next week starting the second half of the conference season by hosting Concordia University on Thursday, Jan. 28, (7PM tip-off) followed by the Pink Game on Saturday, Jan. 30 (5:15 tip-off) against Western Oregon. Saturday's game is the team's annual fundraising effort in support of breast cancer research.
Follow the SFU Clan women's basketball team on the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/SFUWomensbball.
-- with files from MSUB Sports Information
--@SFUClan--
