The SFU Clan women’s basketball team lost a showdown between two of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s top teams on Wednesday, falling 75-59 to the No. 9-ranked Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in the league season-opener for both clubs.
The Clan, 8-1 in exhibition, suffered its first loss since Nov. 4, when they fell to No. 2-ranked Cal Baptist. In between, Simon Fraser peeled off eight straight wins.
Turnovers was the Clan’s downfall on the night, as SFU coughed up the rock 24 times. The Seawolves made the Clan pay from a distance, hitting 11-of-26 triples overall, with seven of those coming in the first frame.
Coming into the game as the Div. 2 national leader in steals and turnovers forced per game, the Seawolves engineered five SFU miscues and led 27-13 after the first quarter and 47-30 at halftime.
A 23-point gulf was the lowest point, but SFU stormed back to within 55-44 after three quarters. Meg Wilson converted an offensive rebound for the opening basket of the fourth quarter to cut the Clan’s deficit to single digits at 55-46, but UAA delivered the crushing blows with two three-pointers over the next two minutes.
SFU’s Rachel Fradgley had an excellent half, leading the Clan with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe.
Junior Samantha Beauchamp and Wilson also broke the double-digit barrier, with the forwards each posting 10 points.
Jones, Kristensen net NCAA honours
On the heels of his West Region Player of the Year award, Simon Fraser University midfielder Adam Jones was voted to the 2016 NCAA Div. 2 men’s soccer All-American First Team.
Jones, a junior, is the first Great Northwest Athletic Conference player to earn a spot on the NCAA Div. 2 All-American first team since 2013.
He tallied 10 goals and nine assists, helping lead SFU to a 14-1-3 record. Picking up an All-American second team award was SFU defender and GNAC defensive player of the year Magnus Kristensen.
