Box Score

Burnaby, British Colombia – Battling a team that reached the "Sweet 16" round in last year's NCAA Tournament, Academy of Art fell 84-69 to Simon Fraser in the first of the teams' two meetings in two days at SFU Gym on Tuesday night. A steady run at the end of the first half and into the second gave SFU as much as a 20-point lead and resulted in the victory for the Clan.

It was a 7-7 tie in the early going before ART U executed a 6-0 run powered by layups from Zoie Sheng, Sha'Nice Storey, and Regina Camera. Both teams then weathered more than two minutes of scoreless action stuck at 13-9 before Aleigh Krug's jumper dropped in.

Soon, Alisa Griggs and Sheng helped push the Knights' lead up to 10 points, 23-13, midway through the half, but Simon Fraser refused to fade on its home court. A 10-0 run led by layups from Rebecca Langmead and Meg Wilson would bring the Clan ahead 31-28.

In the final three minutes, Academy of Art made a push of its own sparked by a Krug free throw a later fueled by Jasmin Guinn's determined effort to grab a rebound on her own missed shot and put the ball back in. The burst was capped off by Molly O'Brien's 3-pointer, but the Clan had one final pair of free throws tie the ballgame 38-38 heading into halftime.

The second half was all Simon Fraser in the early going. Carrying over from the end of the first half, the Clan kept building its momentum into a 23-4 push that eventually resulted in a 59-42 advantage for the home team. The lead later rose to 65-45, dipped briefly to 14 on a layup by Sheng and two back-to-back by Griggs, then ended up at 84-69 when the final buzzer sounded.

O'Brien paced ART U with a season-high 20 points (7-of-9 FG) with four steals while Sheng had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Guinn contributed her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 14 rebounds (eight offensive). Griggs posted 10 points as well. Academy of Art falls to 2-3 overall this season.

Leading SFU to a 4-1 overall record now was Erin Chambers who finished with a game-high 22 points (9-of-9 FT) and seven rebounds. Marie-Line Petit put in 15 points with six assists while Katie Lowen offered 13 points, Langmead had 11 points, and Wilson added 10 points off the bench.

ART U is back in action against the Clan inside SFU Gym tomorrow evening at 7:00 PM.