Simon Fraser University was pegged 17th in the NCAA by USA Today Sports in a Division II coaches poll on Tuesday.
The Clan women's basketball team was picked to finish second in the Great Northwest conference in pre-season polling.
SFU is currently off to a 4-1 start, putting its first loss of the season behind it with a 74-52 win over Dixie State College last Saturday.
It was the Clan's largest margin of victory this season and came one day after a 62-45 road loss to Colorado Mesa University in St. George, Utah.
"We had a lot more energy to start the game today," said Clan head coach Bruce Langford in a school press release.
"We were strong defensively and while we didn't shoot the ball great as a team, we improved from yesterday."
Erin Chambers led the Clan with 17 points, while Chelsea Reist and New Westminster Secondary School grad Kia Van Laare had 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe had a team-high nine rebounds and five of the squad's 15 steals.
On Friday, Raincock-Ekunwe was the only Clan shooter in double figures with 14 points and nine boards.
SFU shot just 34 per cent from the floor as a team and was a dismal 19 per cent shooting from beyond the arc.
Early in the second half, Rebecca Langmead cut the Colorado lead to four points with a jump shot, but that sparked a 14-2 reply and SFU never threatened after that.
SFU will play its first Division II home game as a full fledged member of the NCAA on Friday against Cal State Stanislaus at the West Gym.
The two teams play a second game on Saturday. Tip-off for both games is at 7 p.m.
