Clan one step closer to repeat  

- March 13 2010

Led by the reigning CIS player of the year Robyn Buna's 27-point performance, the defending national champion and No. 1-seeded Simon Fraser Clan defeated the No. 8 and tournament host McMaster Marauders 94-76 on Friday evening to advance to Saturday's semifinal round at the CIS women's basketball championship.

In the third opening-round match-up in five years between the two teams - all won by SFU - the Marauders gave the top-ranked Clan all they could handle until the final quarter, where the defending champs went on a 10-4 run over the final five minutes for the 18-point victory.

Simon Fraser opened the game with a 16-4 run over the first six minutes and led 21-10 after one quarter. After shooting just 5-for-17 (29.4%) from the field in the first frame, the host Marauders battled back bringing the game within seven points five times in the last five minutes of the second quarter while shooting 12-for-21 (57.1%) from the floor. SFU led 44-37 at the half.

In the third stanza, McMaster's Emily Leger hit a jumper cutting the lead to three points (56-53) with 5:02 remaining in the quarter. Over the final three minutes of the third, the Clan put together a 7-2 run for a 71-61 advantage after 30 minutes.

Buna of Kelowna, B.C., led all players with an opening day-high 27 points going 9-for-16 from the field and 7-for-8 from the charity stripe earning Russell Athletics player of the game honours.

"The crowd was very loud, it helped [McMaster] a lot, and we didn't play our best in the first half," said Buna. "We needed to stay poised and play our game, and I felt we did that in the second half. Once we started moving more on offence, and didn't take as many bad fouls, we were able to generate a couple of runs. Looking ahead, we know that we can play in this atmosphere now, and we have a lot of confidence going into our next game."

Fellow fourth-year senior and 2009 CIS championship MVP Matteke Hutzler of Napanee, Ont., contributed 20 points and seven rebounds, while CIS defensive player of the year Katie Miyazaki of Richmond, B.C., was one rebound shy of a double-double finishing with 11 points and nine boards.

Also in double figures in scoring for the Clan were fourth-year veterans Laurelle Wiegl, a former CIS rookie of the year from Stoney Plain, Alta., and Kate Hole of St. Albert, Alta., who chipped in with 12 points each.

"The biggest thing I have going for me is my competitiveness and playing against this type of crowd and this type of team really lights a fire in my belly," said Hutzler. "It's a one loss tournament, and we want to leave with a championship, so there was no room to let up, and I think we finally found a rhythm in that fourth quarter."

McMaster had three players in double figures led by freshman Nicole Rosenkranz of Niagara Falls, Ont., who recorded 19 points and six rebounds. Junior Taylor Chiarot of Hamilton, Ont., added 14 points while Russell Athletics player of the game Taylor Smith, also of Hamilton, Ont., contributed with 11 points and seven assists.

"[SFU's] experience really showed in the fourth quarter, we are a younger team, and we can leave this game knowing that we can play with the top teams in the country, that's a good sign for the girls moving ahead," said Smith. "They created a big mismatch for us, we are a smaller team, but I thought we did a pretty good job of staying with them through three quarters."

Simon Fraser, who averaged 19.3 trips to the charity stripe per game during the regular season, went to line 33 times going 25-for-33 (75.8%). Despite shooting 100 percent from the line, McMaster registered a season-low four free throw attempts.

The Clan shot 53.2% (33-for-62) from the field while McMaster finished the contest shooting 49.3% (35-for-71). SFU also won the battle on the glass out-rebounding the Marauders 42-28.

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