Simon Fraser's Ozi Nwabuko (centre) went 6-for-6 from the field Friday in the Clan's season-opening loss to the Drury Panthers of Missouri, the No. 1-ranked team in all of NCAA Div. 2 women's hoops. (File photo by Brad McLeod property of SFU Athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

SFU hoops: Clan lead with their Hart, but even Claudia Hart’s first career double-double not enough against NCAA D2’s No. 1 Drury Panthers

The Simon Fraser Clan said they wanted to start their 2019-20 women’s basketball season against the best competition they could find.On Friday, they quite literally got just that.Junior forward Claudia Hart put forth her first career double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, however the Clan had a hard time early coming to grips with […]

Fraser Valley's Taylor Claggett is headed into her senior season with the Cascades relishing the experiences of her team's recent trip to India (left, with teammate Amanda Thompson). (Photos property UFV athletics 2019. All rights reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

A Passage To India: The travels of UFV senior Taylor Claggett yield new perspectives as Cascades star preps for a torch-passing season

ABBOTSFORD — So many time-honoured adages centre around the fact that greatness remains elusive without first taking a willing step outside of your comfort zone.Taylor Claggett wants to lead her team to the top of the Canadian university basketball mountain this coming spring, so maybe it was fitting that she stepped outside of hers earlier […]

Riverside's Tessa Burton (left) is part of deep recruiting class headed to Kelowna to bolster the fortunes of the UBC Okanagan Heat. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball University Women's Basketball

Varsity Letters B.C. Recruits List 2019: Where 99 girls basketball prospects are headed this coming season

LANGLEY — B.C.’s graduating class of girls high school stars will deliver their talent all over the continent this fall, touching all three NCAA divisions, as well as U Sports, CCAA, NAIA and NJCAA institutions. Here’s your guide to who’s going where. If we’ve missed someone, let us know at howardtsumura@gmail.com and we’ll make the additions. And […]

A long shot from the outset of her university basketball career, Fraser Valley Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer now calls rising fourth-year forward Veronica Kobes the ultimate walk-on. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of University of the Fraser Valley athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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UFV’s Veronica Kobes: The walk-on who refused to walk away speaks to her dual dreams of a career with Cascades hoops and a med school future

ABBOTSFORD — In its most figurative sense, basketball has grudgingly given in. For years, it had watched the unrelenting will to learn from the walk-on who refused to walk away, deciding finally that she had earned the right to be its friend and confidant.

Western Washington's Anna Schweke (44) has had a firm grip on Claudia Hart and the Simon Fraser Clan this season. The two teams meet in the oping round of GNAC playoffs Thursday in Bellingham. (Photo property of Western Washington University athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

GNAC playoffs ’19: SFU must take bad times with good, Clan face adversity head-on as they battle injuries, illness and WWU’s Vikings

BURNABY — Over a grand and somewhat surprising stretch from early-January through mid-February, the Simon Fraser Clan women’s basketball team were among the most consistent in all of NCAA Div. 2 basketball, winning 11 of 13 games.

Few if any players in the history of Simon Fraser women's basketball have over-exceeded their initial expectations quite like Clan senior Sophie Swant. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved)
UBC Thunderbirds' Jessica Hanson has grown into the complete player in her fourth season on the Point Grey campus. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

UBC’s Jessica Hanson: On eve of playoff opener vs. Wesmen, coach Huband says of ‘Birds veteran “…she’ll always err on the side of leadership”

VANCOUVER — Be a scorer. Be a facilitator. Be a lock-down defender. Accepting the task of wearing those three hats on the basketball court at the same time starts you on the road to becoming a complete player.

Trinity Western's quartet of fifth-year veterans (left to right) Tessa Needham, Sarah Buckingham, Tessa Ratzlaff and Jessie Brown look to keep their senior seasons alive when the Spartans face UNBC to open the 2019 Canada West playoffs Friday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of Trinity Western athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
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With ‘Fighting For Friday’ their refrain, TWU Spartans put Canada West season on line in sudden-elimination clash with UNBC

LANGLEY — It started out as the worst of times, it finished as the best of times. And now, after closing out their Canada West regular schedule with a game that serves as the perfect microcosm of their maddeningly inconsistent campaign, have the Trinity Western Spartans women’s basketball team shown enough to suggest that the playoffs […]

Simon Fraser's five 2018-19 freshmen strike a serious pose. They are (left to right) Sienna Lenz, Justina Chan, Sophie Klassen, Emma Kramer and Georgia Swant. (Photo property SFU Athletics. All rights reserved 2019)
Feature University Women's Basketball

A Freshmen Five for the Future: SFU’s rookie class helps Clan to register its second largest margin of victory all-time in GNAC play

BURNABY — It’s hard to know with exact certainty, yet there was a chance on Thursday that Simon Fraser Clan head women’s basketball coach Bruce Langford put a group of five players on the floor together which represented the youngest of his entire 18-year university coaching career.

Simon Fraser's Kendal Sands (15, third from left) is all smiles after hitting the winning shot Saturday as the Clan stunned nationally-No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Northwest Nazarene at the West Gym. (Photo by Brad McLeod property of SFU Athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

A Sunday read: In topping No. 1-ranked Nazarene, Simon Fraser Clan women’s basketball notches a win for the ages

BURNABY — In the midst of flipping the script against the No. 1-ranked team in all of NCAA Div. 2 basketball on Saturday night, one thought kept running through Jessica Jones’ mind.