Raincock-Ekunwe powers #13 SFU past women's basketball, 71-55
February 4, 2013
Jamie Foland
907-474-6807
Burnaby, B.C. – Simon Fraser got a big lift by Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe's double-double and fine shooting as 13th-ranked Simon Fraser downed Alaska 71-55 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball Saturday evening at West Gymnasium.
Raincock-Ekunwe led all players with game-highs of 26 points and 16 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive glass. She was 12 of 16 from the floor and also made a pair of blocks. The rest of the Clan (16-3, 9-2 GNAC) had balanced scoring as Kia Van Laare had nine points off the bench and Katie Lowen had eight points and five assists. Kristina Collins led the game with seven dimes while Chelsea Reist made three blocks.
SFU shot 48 percent (28-58) for the game while holding Alaska to 36 percent (20-56) shooting from the field. The Clan out rebounded the Nanooks (2-17, 0-11 GNAC) 38-29 and made seven blocks as a team.
The Nanooks were paced by senior guard Taylor Altenburg (Elko, Nev./Criminal justice), who had her first double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with a game-high four steals. Sophomore guard Kelly Logue (Fair Oaks, Calif./Communication) had 15 points while sophomore guard Benissa Bulaya contributed 13 points, five assists and three steals.
Simon Fraser surged out to a 16-8 lead 6:25 into the game. The Nanooks fought back and trailing 27-17, used an 8-2 run over three minutes to trim the deficit to 29-25. SFU answered with five in a row to lead 34-25 at the break.
Both squads went back and forth for much of the second half, but with the hosts leading 52-43 with fewer than seven minutes to go, a 17-6 run in about five minutes gave the Clan a comfortable 69-49 advantage with two minutes to go.
Alaska returns to action next Thursday when it plays host to Montana State Billings at 7 p.m. Next Saturday, it will play in its Play 4Kay game against Seattle Pacific at 3 p.m. inside the Patty Center.