Langara Falcons lose to Capilano Blues in women’s basketball action

It was an emotional one-point overtime loss for the Langara Falcons women’s basketball team against the Capilano Blues last Saturday.

This was the Falcons’ fourth game against Capilano with similar results. The Falcons lost the game 59 to 58.

Injury breaks momentum

An injury to Capilano guard Stacey Graham with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter caused a 20-minute delay.

Graham was eventually wheeled out on a stretcher and Falcons’ head coach, Mike Evans, said the pause was distracting for both teams.

“I think it was hard to get re-focused again after that,” said Evans.

The injury occurred when Graham and Langara’s Rhea Silvestri collided in mid-air.

“Our player went up to grab the ball and the other player did too. They caught legs or something and it just happened, she [Graham] went down the wrong way,” explained Langara forward, Emily Rowlandson.

Game action

The Falcons scored first, only 20 seconds into the first quarter, and held their lead through the quarter, finishing with a two-point advantage.

Capilano took over in the second quarter, ending the half 26-23.

Denise Busayong, who was the Falcons’ leading scorer with 17 points, scored three three-pointers in the third quarter bringing the Falcons back in the lead with a score of 39-35.

The Falcons’ defence was strong throughout; they played a tight game, dominating control of the pace for the majority of the time.

“That was a big plus for us,” said Evans.

Guard Toni Li began the fourth quarter with an impressive interception, which she converted into two points.

At the fourth quarter buzzer, the game was tied 53-53 and went into overtime.

The Falcons scored first in overtime but Capilano played strong, scoring three free throws and a three-point shot.

The game came down to the final play of the overtime session: with 20 seconds left, Langara’s Karen Li played strategically. She held the ball tight and moved slowly. Li passed to Theresa Jacobse, who with five seconds left, took a long shot just missing as the buzzer sounded.

The end results were disappointing and the Falcons hope to win at least three of their next five games to secure a spot in the upcoming playoffs.

The Falcons play next against Kwantlen University on Feb. 6, at 6 p.m.

Reported by Karly Blats