Simon Fraser University missed its chance to take over sole possession of second place in the Great Northwest women’s basketball conference.
The Clan dropped a 76-61 decision to the conference-leading Montana State Billings at home on Saturday.
The loss came after an earlier 77-68 victory over Seattle Pacific, which left both teams in a four-team logjam for second place in the Great Northwest.
“Our offence was too centered around one person and a couple of people were just not there offensively,” said Clan head coach Bruce Langford in a school press release.
SFU junior Erin Chambers showed no ill effects from a dislocated finger, suffered the game before, leading the Clan with a game-high 25 points, five rebounds and four assists.
SFU trailed Billings 38-29 at the half-time break, but fell behind by as many as 20 points nine minutes into the latter period.
Chambers led the Clan back to within 10 points, draining her second three-pointer of the game and potting a pair of free throws with less than four minutes left to play.
But it wasn’t enough. Junior Chelsea Reist also played a strong game for the Clan, scoring 12 points on 50 per cent shooting, while grabbing nine rebounds.
Montana State Billings improved its first-place record to 9-2, while SFU and Seattle Pacific are tied with Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington at 7-4.
Against Seattle Pacific, Chambers led the way with 20 points and five boards, despite the injury that failed to keep her off the floor for long.
When Chambers subbed back in, SFU went on a 13-2 run that put the game out of reach of the visiting Falcons.
SFU shot 41 per cent from beyond the arc and 46 per cent overall, while holding Seattle Pacific without a three-point bucket all game long.
“We just hit a lot of shots at a crucial time to put it away,” said Langford.
Marie-Line Petit finished the game with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds and four assists. Meg Wilson added seven points and three steals.
This week, SFU will hit the road for a date with last-place Central Washington, which upset the Clan at home for its sole win to date earlier in the schedule. On Saturday, SFU plays at Northwest Nazarene, which sports one of the best home records in the conference this season at 8-2.
