Simon Fraser's Myrlaine Shelvey on her way to scoring two of her game-high 24 points during GNAC clash against Western Oregon January 30, 2025 at the West Gym. (Photo by Gordon Kalisch/FastTrackSportsPhotographyy 2025. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

She’s the Red Leaf rising! Myrlaine Shelvey hits six triples and Simon Fraser flirts with GNAC’s free throw record in much-needed 83-68 win over Western Oregon’s Wolves!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Myrlaine Shelvey knows the one thing her basketball team needs most is secondary scoring.

On Thursday, as Simon Fraser continued a three-game home stand against a visiting Western Oregon Wolves team tied with them at 3-6, both locked just outside of playoff contention in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings, the redshirt sophomore guard stepped ably into that role in leading her team to an 83-68 win.

With the win, the Red Leafs moved into a tie for the sixth-and-final GNAC playoff spot with St. Martin’s at 4-6, and it’s those very Saints who will provide the opposition on Saturday (1 p.m.) at the West Gym.

“I think everybody should have the mindset of ‘We’re not always going to have Sophia (Wisotzki) scoring,’” said Shelvey, who scored game-high 24 points including a sizzling 6-for-11 evening from three-point range in support of the conference’s acknowledged offensive leader. “She might have a bad game or maybe not as good (as her GNAC-leading 23.7 points per game average), but I think we have to come out ready to bring up the team, and ready to shoot and score.”

Wisotzki, who faced a constant barrage of physical, collapsing defence from the Wolves, still managed to score 19 points, as both she and teammate Rachel Loukes (15 points, 13 rebounds) each went 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Of note, SFU made its first 22 straight free throws before finally missing over the late stages of the fourth quarter, falling just two makes shy of tying the single-game record of 24 straight set by Central Washington against SFU in 2022.

Simon Fraser’s Rachel Loukes went 10-of-10 from the free throw line and added 15 points during GNAC win January 30, 2025 against Western Oregon. (File photo by Gordon Kalisch/FastTrackSportsPhotography 2025. All Rights Reserved)

Yet there was just no mistaking what Shelvey’s unconscious touch from distance meant to a Red Leafs team which was continually reeled in by Wolves until an 11-0 fourth-quarter run finally quelled the visiting Oregonians.

Makenna Gardner added 13 points as the Red Leafs produced their most balanced scoring performance of the conference season with five double-digit scorers. Arman Dulai added eight points.

“When Lainey scores 20 points we usually win because we are more aggressive with a key player,” said SFU head coach Bruce Langford after the victory. “I sent Arman and Lainey something from Instagram about how the best defender who checks you is yourself some of the time, because you defer to others… so the other team doesn’t really guard you because you’re not trying to score. I think they’ve both taken that to heart a little bit.”

Langford called secondary scoring on the team “crucial” and the numbers bear out his thoughts on an aggressive Shelvey being a huge component for a  Red Leafs’ renaissance in the second half of the season.

SFU has just four wins in conference play, but two have come in the past three games beginning with the team’s 99-80 win Jan. 18 at Fairbanks against the Alaska Nanooks.

In those two games, SFU’s two best offensive outings of the GNAC campaign, Shelvey’s combined average is 26.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg, while shooting 19-of-34 (56 per cent) from the field, and 12-of-22 (55 per cent) from three-point range.

SFU’s Myrlaine Shelvey has hit six three-pointers in each of the Red Leafs’ last two victories. (File photo by Gordon Kalisch/FastTrackSportsPhotography 2025. All Rights Reserved)

“When she catches the ball and is balanced, she is a beautiful shooter, you just know it’s going in,” continued Langford. “There was one (three-point shot) she took right in front of me. I knew it was going in. Very nice. It’s coming slowly. She’s gotten better and every year she’s made a step and stride.”

And a lot of that is, of course, because of the ‘C’ word.

“I think confidence is something I have struggled with even in high school,” she said post game, counting the steps along a journey that began at Langley Christian. “But I have been gaining it more through playing here and the coaches help, and my teammates help me to gain my confidence.”

Sahnya Gill, the 6-foot-1 redshirt sophomore post from Langley-Brookswood continued to impress. In just 8:39 of court time, Gill grabbed six rebounds, including three off offensive glass.

“We’ve got to get 20-point games out of Arman or Lainey, and if Makenna can contribute a dozen or so (in addition to Wisotzki’s output) then we’re there,” said Langford. “Some nights we’re just too reliant on one person.

“Loukes got to the line brilliantly tonight and if we’re getting 15 points from Loukes we’re in bonus land. She can jump. She can sky. And I thought Sahnya’s eight minutes ans six rebounds were huge. A lot of people stepped into roles tonight that were good.”

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