On Friday, Feb. 6, the University of Winnipeg Wesmen (13-8) took on the Simon Fraser University Clan (21-1) in women’s basketball action. SFU ended up on top as they dominated Winnipeg 87-56.

The match started off close but SFU started hitting three pointer after three pointer and that kept the Wesmen down. Winnipeg also kept turning the ball over and the Clan’s defence kicked in and took advantage of the Wesmen’s sloppy passes and mistakes.

With the size of SFU’s players coupled with their shooting ability, it is easy to see why they are ranked number one in the country and how they can force a team like the Wesmen to turn over the ball.
“They’re a very good team,” said Wesmen guard Caitlin Gooch. “They run their offense well and find their shooters.”

It wasn’t until late in the second quarter when the Wesmen were able to force SFU to turn the ball over and Winnipeg brought the game a little closer. However, by the end of the first half the Wesmen were still trailing SFU 27-39.

The second half went about the same as the first. The Clan’s Robyn Buna kept on connecting from the three point line and hit six of 13 from beyond the arc, leading her team to victory.

High scorers for the Wesmen were Gooch with 17 points and fourth-year guard Randie Gibson who had 10 points on the night.

The next day the Wesmen women beat the Trinity Western University Spartans 74-54 on a night where Winnipeg’s fourth-year forward Jessica Stromberg earned a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Wesmen men’s basketball game against SFU was a lot closer, but the Clan still won by a score of 70-62. The high scorers of the night were guard Nick Lother of the Wesmen scoring 19 points and SFU’s Matt Kuzminski who also scored 19 points.

The men’s game against the Spartans had an unfortunate ending for Wesmen fans as they dropped that game 62-70 despite third-year guard Nick Lother’s 17 point performance.

In volleyball action, both the women and men faced the cross-town rivals, the Manitoba Bison.

The women were swept 0-3 in both games but, on a positive note, first-year Ariel Smith keeps improving as she led the Wesmen with 11 kills in the first game, and seven in the second. In the years to come, she is going to be an offensive juggernaut for Winnipeg.

The men were victorious 3-0 and 3-1 as Alan Ahow led the first match with 13 kills and Andrew Town led the second match with 20.

Next for the Wesmen are the playoffs as the women’s basketball team play host to the Bison starting on Thursday, Feb. 12. The men’s basketball team travels to Regina to play the Cougars in their best of three while the men’s volleyball team is off to Calgary to battle it out with the Dinos.

Published in Volume 63, Number 20 of The Uniter (February 12, 2009)