BILLINGS, Mont. – The Simon Fraser women's basketball team lost 79-72 to the Montevallo (Alabama) Falcons Sunday in its final contest at the D2CCA Tip-off Classic in Billings, Montana. The squad went 1-2 at the season-opening event.

Four SFU players reached double digits in scoring, led by junior guard Emma Kramer, who posted 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. She also grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.

Sophomore guard Grace Killins came off the bench to score 12 points. She hit three of her nine shots from beyond the three-point arc. The Wisotzki sisters, sophomore guard/forward Jessica and freshman guard Sophia, each recorded 10 points. Freshman forward Gemma Cutler had seven rebounds, and two blocks. 

Sophia Wisotzki, senior forward Claudia Hart and junior guard Georgia Swant all had four assists for SFU.

Sophia Wisotzki got her collegiate career off to a strong start and was the only underclassman picked to the all-tournament team. Wisotzki's Player of the Game performance was a 14-point, five-rebound, six-assist effort in the win over Seton Hill, and overall she averaged 8.7 points and 3.7 assists per game.

The team did well to recover from Montevallo's 15-0 start. Kramer broke the run midway through the opening quarter with a layup after Hart grabbed an offensive rebound. That was the start of an 11-2 SFU surge over a span of 2:34. It included four points from Cutler, and a long-distance bucket from Killins.

Simon Fraser trailed 22-15 at the end of the first quarter. The team outscored the Falcons 22-17 in the second. 

Swant hit a three-point basket with just under six and half minutes left before halftime to bring her team to within a point of Montevallo at 25-24. The Falcons out together a 7-0 stretch late in the period to push its lead to 37-28, but SFU replied with a 9-2 run that included threes from Jessica Wisotzki and Killins to close out the quarter
 

A Kramer triple closed SFU's deficit to 43-42 three minutes into the second half. However, Montevallo created separation again with an 11-0 run, and the Falcons led 58-45 after three.

The SFU defence got a stop and then a Kramer layup to open the fourth. Jessica Wisotzki drew an offensive foul on the next possession to give SFU the ball back. Sophia Wisotzki then hit from long distance to cut the deficit to 58-50. Later, a Hart fast-break layup capped off a 12-2 SFU start the fourth quarter. 

Montevallo's lead was cut to just three at 60-57, but again, the Falcons had a response. They outscored SFU 8-1 over the next 2:12 to widen their lead to double digits (68-58). 

While a Killins three with 24 seconds left in the fourth cut the gap to just 73-69, SFU ran out of time. 

The team made 27 of its 71 shots from the field Sunday, including 11 of 39 three-point attempts. Montevallo was 31 of 66, and shot 20 per cent (2-10) from long range. The Falcons won the rebounding battle 42-39, while both teams had 20 assists.

Next weekend, SFU will be competing at the Holy Names Classic in Oakland, California. Friday's noon game is against San Francisco State. The team will face the hosts on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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