Three straight home wins and some luck elsewhere earned the Simon Fraser University women’s basketball team a spot at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s championships.
Behind last week’s dramatic 77-74 win over Montana State Billings, the Clan clinched the sixth seed for the conference playoffs.
Sophomore centre Tayla Jackson and freshman guard Jessica Jones tallied 16 points apiece, while Tia Tsang chipped in 14 points.
The team went 11-for-27 from beyond the three-point line, with a 46.7 per cent shooting percentage from the field.
Earlier, SFU edged Western Washington 79-77 in another must-win tilt. Jackson counted 19 points.
Sophomore Tayler Drynan netted 16 points while junior Sophie Swant chipped in with 15 points. Freshman guard Jessica Jones tallied 10 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
The luck came when Montana State Billings topped Western Washington, while Seattle Pacific defeated Concordia.
“About three or four weeks ago we had our backs up against the wall and had several must-win situations. I thought our girls competed hard and battled through some adversity time after time that allowed us to pull off some wins,” said SFU head coach Bruce Langford. “It kind of all fell together and obviously the teams that needed to win in other places did for us so now we sit in a position that we didn’t think we would have been in a couple of weeks ago.”
The Clan will face No. 3 Seattle Pacific on Thursday in Anchorage, Alaska. The winner faces No. 2 Alaska-Anchorage.
This will be the fourth time the Falcons and Clan will meet in the GNAC championships. SFU has won the previous three contests: 69-61 in 2012 (quarter-finals); 66-55 in 2013 (semifinals); and 87-79 in 2014 (quarter-finals).
“For us to have success (against Seattle Pacific), we need to shoot the ball well. We have shot free throws well all year consistently but the last few games, our threes have been looking better and better and we’re a little bit more consistent in the post. I think keeping these things going will be crucial,” said Langford.
It’s the program’s eighth trip to the conference championships, including five times where they advanced to the semifinals.
