Monday, November 12, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. - Simon Fraser, playing its first official women’s basketball games as a full-fledged NCAA member institution, made a good first impression last weekend.

The Clan earned three victories in the Disney Tip Off tournament at Anaheim, including two against nationally ranked teams.  Those three victories have earned SFU the GNAC Team of the Week award.

Simon Fraser opened the tournament Friday defeating No. 13 Grand Canyon 69-60.  Then after disposing of West Texas A&M 74-59 on Saturday, SFU closed out the tournament with a 61-58 win over eighth-ranked UC San Diego Sunday night.

Last March both Grand Canyon and UC San Diego competed in the NCAA West Regional in LaJolla, Calif.  Alaska Anchorage eliminated both teams; Grand Canyon in the semifinals 77-58 and the host Tritons in the regional championship game 68-63.

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe had an impressive tournament, scoring 50 points and pulling down 31 rebounds.  She also had nine assists and five steals.  In Sunday’s game against UCSD, she led the Clan with 22 points and nine rebounds.

SFU also got 15 points from Erin Chambers and 10 from Marie-Line Petit in Sunday’s victory.

“We played well tonight (Sunday) and once again, different people stepped up and contributed,” said head coach Bruce Langford.  “We tried to limit their threes because they can really shoot the ball.  We were quite successful in that (UCSD made 5 of 13) and we did a good job taking care of the ball.”

Chambers led SFU in the tournament with 51 points and 15 rebounds.  She made 14 of 25 shots, including eight of 13 treys and all 15 of her foul shots.  That performance earned her Red Lion GNAC Player of the Week honors.

Kristina Collins also had a good tournament for the Clan scoring 36 points and dishing out nine assists.

SFU continues its non-conference schedule this coming weekend with two more games against Division II opponents in another tournament at Saint George, Utah.

The Clan takes on Colorado Mesa on Friday before playing host Dixie State Saturday.