Friday, March 10, 2017

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – No team entered the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball West Regional by a tougher path than No. 5 seed Simon Fraser, which showed its grit in a 69-65 physical win against No. 4 UC San Diego on Friday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Clan (25-8) won a back-and-forth battle with the CCAA regular season champion UC San Diego (23-7) to advance to Saturday’s regional semifinal against the winner of Alaska Anchorage and Hawaii Pacific. This is the Clan’s second trip to the regional semifinals in the last four years.

Simon Fraser trailed by as much as four in the final frame, but used a 9-0 run that spanned three and a half minutes to claim the lead for good. The run was started on a lay-up by Tia Tsang before an Ellen Kett jumper gave the Clan a 61-60 lead. Freshman Ozi Nwabuko took over from there completing a 3-point play before making a left-handed lay-up on the next possession to push the lead to 66-60.

The Clan defense only allowed one basket in a six-minute span in the fourth quarter. It was a game of runs throughout with the Clan going on a 7-0 run early in the third quarter to take a 40-34 lead before UC San Diego later responded with an 11-0 run to take a 47-42 lead later in the third.

The Clan entered the game with a disadvantage, missing their senior leader Meg Wilson. The squad’s regular season leader in rebounds and points was present at the game, but not in uniform for the playoff encounter. The Clan had a number of players step up in her place, including Elisa Homer, who made 3 of 5 shots from beyond the arc, including two in the second half from the exact same spot with a hand in her face.

Senior point guard Kett added to her GNAC record for double-digit assists game with 11 assists to go with 14 points to lead SFU to victory. Sophie Swant was the primary beneficiary of Kett’s assists with a game-high 17 points in the victory. It is the first time this year that Swant has led the team in scoring by herself. Rachel Fradgley added eight points and nine rebounds.

Simon Fraser has played each of the West Region’s top four seeds now six times this season and Friday marked the first win against one of those teams, despite missing Wilson.