Box Score

        Box score, play-by-play 
 
BURNABY, B.C. – For 31 minutes, the Seattle Pacific Falcons kept it close against Simon Fraser.
 
Just four minutes later, it wasn't close anymore.
 
Katie Benson scored 23 points on Thursday night, but the Clan went on a 17-2 run to break open a one-point game and beat SPU in Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball, 77-68.
 
The result in West Gym halted SPU's five-game winning streak.
 
"It happened so fast," Falcons head coach Julie Heisey said. "We broke down. They went back-door and got a lay-up, they scored off of turnovers, they hit some 3s.
 
"All of a sudden, the dam broke. We weren't able to answer back, and we weren't able to get stops."
 
The Clan (12-5, 7-3 GNAC) and Falcons (13-5, 6-4 GNAC) came into Thursday's contest tied for third place in the standings, one game behind Western Washington and Montana State Billings, which were deadlocked for first at 6-2.
 
Seattle Pacific dropped into a tie for fourth with Alaska Anchorage (a 77-70 winner against Central Washington) and lifted Simon Fraser into a tie for second with Western. Billings took over sole possession of the top spot at 8-2 by downing the Vikings in Bellingham, 71-63.
 
The Falcons had not lost since Jan. 4, when Simon Fraser came from 12 points down in the second half to win in Brougham Pavilion, 63-60. SPU visits Western Washington on Saturday at 5:15 p.m.
 
Senior forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) hit 9 of 16 from the floor and pulled down eight rebounds for SPU. Junior guard Suzanna Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) added 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and collected five rebounds.
 
Katie Lowen poured in 23 point for the Clan, and was instrumental during the Clan's decisive surge, which started after SPU had cut the margin to one at 49-48 with 9:25 remaining on a pair of free throws by Benson.
 
"We were down by one, then we would be down by four," Heisey said. "We just couldn't get over the hump."
 
Marie-Linn Petit scored four points in a row to make it 53-48, then Lowen drained a 3-pointer for a 56-48 lead.
 
Benson and the Clan's Rebecca Langmead traded baskets, leaving it at 58-50. Lowen popped another trey to provide the first double-digit margin of the night at 61-50. She followed that with driving-lay-in, then Ellen Kett hit from downtown, capping the run and pushing Simon's lead to 66-50.
                                                                                       
By game's end, the Clan had hit 9 of 22 from behind the arc, while the Falcons came up empty at 0 for 11. It was the first time this season they did not hit at least one shot from long range.
 
Simon Fraser went on a 7-0 run to turn a 13-11 deficit into an 18-13 lead, and stayed in front the rest of the way. The Falcons got within 27-25 late in the half before the Clan scored seven of the final nine points and took a 34-29 edge into the intermission.
 
Chambers, who had just 15 points in the game at Seattle earlier this month, had 14 through the first 20 minutes on Thursday night.
 
Trailing by five in the second half at 47-42, SPU had a chance to make a move when Chambers, the GNAC's leading scorer at 22.8 points per game went down with a finger injury with 12:11 left in the game. She went to the sidelines, and it was then that the Falcons twice got within a point, at 47-46 and again at 49-48.
 
Chambers returned with 7:51 left and three fingers on her left (non-shooting) hand taped, scoring two more points after that.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, January 30, 2014
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
 
Simon Fraser 77, Seattle Pacific 68
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (13-5, 6-4 GNAC)
Maddey Pflaumer 1-1 0-0 2, Katie Benson 9-16 5-7 23, Molly Grager 2-2 0-0 4, Suzanna Ohlsen 6-12 4-4 16, Betsy Kingma 0-6 1-2 1, Stacey Lukasiewicz 1-4 0-0 2, Rachel Shiim 1-2 5-6 7, Caitlin Heinly 0-1 0-0 0, Brianne Lasconia 3-5 0-0 6, Hannah Rodrigues 2-6 1-2 5, Riley Butler 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 26-58 16-21 68.
 
SIMON FRASER (12-5, 7-3 GNAC)
Erin Chambers 7-11 4-4 20, Chelsea Reist 1-3 2-2 4, Rebecca Langmead 2-6 5-6 9, Katie Lowen 8-15 2-2 23, Marie-Line Petit 3-12 2-2 9, Kia Van Laare 0-4 0-1 0, Ellen Kett 2-2 0-0 5, Meg Wilson 3-4 1-2 7, Ariana Sider 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 16-19 77.
 
Seattle Pacific      29           39           -- 68
Simon Fraser       34           43           -- 77
 
3-point goals – SPU 0-11 (Benson 0-1, Ohlsen 0-1, Kingma 0-4, Lukasiewicz 0-1, Lasconia 0-3, Rodrigues 0-3), SF 9-22 (Chambers 2-4, Lowen 5-8, Petit 1-7, Van Laare 0-2, Kett 1-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 33 (Benson 8), SF 33 (Petit 7). Assists – SPU 11 (Benson 2, Ohlsen 2, Kingma 2, Lasconia 2), SF 15 (Petit 4). Turnovers – SPU 15, SF 17. Total fouls – SPU 16, SF 15. Technical fouls – None. A – 419.
 
Next game – Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, Carver Gym (Bellingham), Saturday, 5:15 p.m.