Women's Basketball Weekly Report

Feb. 27, 2015 Contact: Nathan Webber (503)305-8756/[email protected] Updated: Final ROOT SPORTS Broadcast: SFU at WWU PORTLAND, Ore. – The final week of the regular season is upon us, meaning there’s time for one last ROOT SPORTS Game of the Week. The Simon Fraser Clan take their talents to Bellingham to face Western Washington in the regular season finale Saturday at 7 p.m. Pacific. Both teams have already secured spots in the GNAC tournament which starts next Wednesday with the quarterfinal rounds. Simon Fraser is locked-in to the fourth seed with a 10-7 conference record while WWU still has a chance to clinch a first-round bye at 12-5. The Vikings, who cannot finish below the third seed, are tied with Seattle Pacific for the first-round bye. This border battle is against two of the top three scoring teams in the GNAC. The Clan is led by the GNAC’s all-time leading scorer in Erin Chambers. The senior forward averages 23.7 points per game, which also ranks second nationally. Meg Wilson is the force underneath, making 55 percent of her shots while collecting 8.5 rebounds each game. Ellen Kett leads the GNAC, and ranks fourth nationally, in assist/turnover ratio while senior Katie Lowen has made more three’s than anyone else in the conference. Western Washington has one of the more balanced offenses in the GNAC. Six players have led the Vikings in scoring in 26 games this season while four average at least 11.1 points per game. The Vikings also rank in the top 10 in the country in field-goal percentage, threepoint efficiency and free throw percentage. Four seniors, playing their last game in Sam Carver Gymnasium Saturday, is the force behind this powerful offense. Katie Colard eclipsed the 1,000-point mark earlier in the season while Sydney Donaldson has hit a few game-winning shots. Starting guard Jenni White has picked up her scoring efforts in the second half of the season while Marcel Pounds has contributed off the bench in all 26 games. This contest is a rematch of the first conference game of the season back on Dec. 6 where Simon Fraser held on for a 74-71 win in Burnaby, BC. Standings and Schedule GNAC Overall Team W L W L xy-#1 Alaska Anchorage 16 1 26 1 x-#19 Seattle Pacific 12 5 20 5 x-Western Washington 12 5 18 8 x-Simon Fraser 10 7 14 11 Central Washington 7 10 12 13 Saint Martin’s 7 10 10 15 Alaska 6 11 14 13 MSU Billings 6 11 14 13 Northwest Nazarene 5 12 7 19 Western Oregon 4 13 7 18 x-Clinched GNAC Tournament Berth y-Clinched the regular season title and tournament first-round bye UPCOMING GAMES SATURDAY, FEB. 28 Montana State Billings at Alaska Anchorage, 1 p.m. Northwest Nazarene at Western Oregon, 5:15 p.m. Seattle Pacific at Alaska, 5:15 p.m. *Simon Fraser at Western Washington, 7 p.m. Central Washington at Saint Martin’s, 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 GNAC Quarterfinal #1, 5:15 p.m. GNAC Quarterfinal #2, 7:30 p.m. FRIDAY, MARCH 6 GNAC Semifinal #1, 12 p.m. GNAC Semifinal #2, 2:30 p.m. SATURDAY, MARCH 7 GNAC Championship, 5:15 p.m. *ROOT SPORTS Game of the Week Around the GNAC  The third official NCAA West Region Poll will be released Wednesday, March 4. This poll determines the five West Region at-large teams that will make the NCAA tournament along with the GNAC, Pac-West and CCAA champions. Alaska Anchorage remained at the top spot in the poll last week while SPU stayed in fifth.  Western Oregon’s Dana Goularte and MSUB’s Quinn Peoples were selected GNAC co-Players of the Week. Goularte scored 46 points while Peoples shot a career-high eight three-pointers in a two-game performance last week.  6