Simon Fraser University has had no problem scoring so far this season but its defence that has head coach Bruce Langford concerned as the Clan women’s basketball team prepares for its Great Northwest Athletic Conference season opener Saturday against rival Western Washington.
Simon Fraser has strung together two 90-plus point games in its four wins this season, and is averaging 84 points per contest, second best in the conference. But the Clan is also surrendering 68 points per game and has given up 89 and 84 points in its two losses to nationally ranked opponents.
Senior forward Erin Chambers was named Great Northwest women’s basketball player of the week after leading the Clan to a pair of victories and flirting with a triple-double in one contest. Chambers, who is averaging a conference-leading 26 points per game, scored 67 points in three games, including 34 in a 90-69 win over Colorado Christian. In those three games she also had 20 rebounds, 13 assists and six steals.
“Offensively we have had success and we have been able to score in a variety of different ways, but it seems like every time we make a mistake defensively our opponents are making us pay for it,” said Langford in a Clan press release. “We just seem to be a step slow and little behind in our coverage.”
Western Washington visits the West Gym with a 5-2 overall record. The Vikings present a new set of challenges for the Clan. WWU averages a conference-leading 48 percent from the field and almost 40 percent from three-point range.
Western Washington also returns two players that were on all-conference teams last season.
Guard Katie Colard led the Vikings in scoring the past two seasons and is averaging 16 points per game this year. She was also the conference leader in three-pointers made with 53 last season.
Guard Jenni White was second in the conference in assists with 85 for the season, averaging 4.7 per game. She also averaged two steals per game.
The Vikings finished the season with a 19-10 overall record (13-5 in the GNAC) and beat Simon Fraser in the Great Northwest championship 78-74 before losing to the Clan in the NCAA tournament in California.
“There will be a lot of emotion in the game and our girls will have no problem getting up for the game,” said Langford. “We will have to contain their perimeter shooters and play solid defensively to be successful.”
The Vikings return two more starters to their 2014-15 squad. Forwards Sydney Donaldson and Taylor Peacocke have combined for 24.4 points per game this year.
Donaldson is the Vikings force in the middle and was the second leading rebounder on the team last year, averaging 7.2 boards per contest and blocked 30 shots. Peacocke finished in the top 20 in the conference in scoring, field goal percentage and free throw percentage last year. She is the Vikings leading scorer this season, averaging 16.3 ppints per game.
The Clan will honour the memory of Canadian hero Terry Fox by raising a banner displaying his name and No. 4 that he wore as a student-athlete on the Clan junior varsity men’s basketball team to the West Gym rafters following the women’s game on Saturday. During the ceremony Terry's original jersey will be presented to the Fox Family, represented by Terry's brother, Fred Fox.
