Simon Fraser University lost an opportunity to share first place atop the Great Northwest conference following a 63-54 loss to the previously winless Central Washington Wildcats in women’s basketball on Saturday.
“We had no effort, no energy and no intensity,” said Clan head coach Bruce Langford in a Clan press release. “We were very disjointed offensively.”
The loss came after two wins over NCAA Division II ranked teams, including a 75-66 victory over No. 18 Northwest Nazarene in SFU’s first home game of 2014 on Jan. 9.
New Westminster guard Kia Van Laare sparked a first-half resurgence, hitting back-to-back threes to pull SFU even at 15-15. Van Laare finished with 11 points and three rebounds.
SFU led at halftime 38-34 but started the second half with a chilly touch following a 22-10 run by Nazarene.
Following a timeout, SFU began to chip away at the deficit.
Erin Chambers led the team in scoring, garnering 25 points, including a near-perfect 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.
Rebecca Langmead dominated at the low post, adding 15 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks to the SFU scoreline.
Junior Katie Lowen also finished in double figures with 11 points. Sophomore Meg Wilson chipped in with 10 boards.
But much of the intensity from Thursday’s win was missing against Central Washington.
Chambers tallied 19 points in the second half in a failed attempt to get SFU back in the match.
With less than four minutes remaining Chambers scored on a lay-up and later sank two free throws to shave the deficit to a bucket on two separate occasions.
The junior forward and conference scoring leader finished the game with 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting.
“It was gut-check time for us,” said Chambers in the release. “We let them get way too many boards. They outhustled us on our floor and that is unacceptable.”
