Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – West Region No. 2 Simon Fraser University held off the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders 68-57 in Round 1 of the NCAA Div. II Women's Basketball Tournament held at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.
 
The Crusaders kept the Clan close, going down only 11 at the half. Chelsie Luke led the team with 9 points in the first half. Junior Megan Hingston had six points in the half, with all six coming on three consecutive possessions. NNU was 12 of 33 (36.4-percent) from the floor in the first half.
 
The Clan hit 7 of 13 three-point buckets to gain a 41-30 lead at the half. Erin Chambers had 14 points in the first 20 minutes, with 12 of them coming from beyond the arc. GNAC Player of the Year Nayo Raincock-Ekunw,e was 7 of 9 from the floor in the first half with 18 points. The Clan went 14 of 31 (45.2-percent) from the field in the first.
 
Raincock Ekunwe came out of the half hitting her first two shots to get the Clan up 17, which would be their biggest lead of the game.
 
The Crusaders were able to chip away and get the lead down to only 8 with 1:04 remaining, but the Clan held on to get the victory. Luke once again led NNU in the second half, adding 13 points to give her 22 points total in the game. Megan Hingston scored 13 points on 6 of 13 shooting and grabbed a team-high of 10 rebounds.
 
“I was really pleased with our overall effort. I thought right out of the gate, we missed some easy shots and they hit some 3's,” commented head coach Kelli Lindley, “we dug ourselves into a hole right at the beginning. We got into a flow and played them within 10 points the rest of the game. I knew we needed to shoot at least 40 percent to beat a team like Simon. They're so explosive and we started a little flat and missed some good looks.”
 
Raincock-Ekunwe had a game-high of 23 points and 11 rebounds for SFU. Erin Chambers finished with 22 points on 6 of 9 shooting from beyond the three point line.  
 
NNU was 22 of 63 (34.9-percent) from the floor and shot 8 of 9 (88.9-percent) from the charity stripe. The Clan were 23 of 53 from the floor, 9 of 22 (40.9-percent) from behind the three point line, and 13 of 17 (76.5-percent) from the foul line.
 
The Crusaders finish the season with a 20-9 overall record. The Clan will advance to the second round of the West Region Tournament to face Grand Canyon University.