BURNABY, B.C. – Simon Fraser was upended 72-60 by the Central Washington Wildcats Tuesday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game at the West Gym. SFU was playing for the first time since Jan. 8, after its last three scheduled contests were postponed.
 
Tuesday's matchup, originally slated for January 15, was a closely contested one before the Wildcats created a bit of separation in the fourth quarter. CWU increased the gap to double digits in the final minute as the hosts were forced to foul. Neither side held a lead larger than six points in the opening three periods, which also saw the score tied on five occasions.
 
Senior guard Jessica Jones recorded 15 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists to lead SFU. Senior forward Claudia Hart posted 11 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Grace Killins went 3 of 5 from beyond the three-point line to contribute nine points off the bench.
 
The Wildcats' Samantha Bowman had a monster game with 20 points and 20 rebounds. Kizzah Maltezo led all players with 22 points.
 
"I think for a good majority of the game, we played really tough," said junior SFU guard Emma Kramer. "We were diving on balls, we were helping really well on defence, I think just at the end, we let it go a little bit. I'm hoping in our next game, we can keep it going for the full 40 minutes rather than 35."
 
"We've got a young team, we have a lot of people who don't have a lot of experience playing post-secondary basketball. So far, we've dealt well with the challenges thrown at us, considering we've had a couple we weren't expecting. We put in a strong effort today, and I think we're only going to get better from here, especially since we're are so young, and improving. For example, Gemma (Cutler) and Sophia (Wisotzki) are in their first year playing university basketball, but they've already stepped up and made enormous strides. I really can't wait to keep playing with them and watch them get better."
 

Hart made a layup and a long-distance shot to help SFU build an 8-2 advantage to start Tuesday's game. CWU replied by scoring nine of the next 11 points to take the lead for the first time at 11-10. Junior forward Sophie Klassen put SFU back on top with a layup with 4:15 remaining in the first quarter. Then she stole the ball right back from the Wildcats. It eventually led to an offensive rebound and a pair of foul shots from her at 3:38 that made it 14-11.
 
Jones made a three from the right wing with 1:23 on the clock and then hit a mid-range jumper inside the last minute to stretch SFU's edge to 21-15 before the Wildcats got two late baskets, including a buzzer-beater by Kassidy Malcolm.
 
The gap between the teams in the second quarter was razor-thin. Junior guard Georgia Swant made a three-point shot from the left wing with 4:54 to go before halftime. It put SFU in front 28-23, and it was only time in the period either team held a two-possession lead. CWU scored the next eight points to re-take the upper hand at 31-28.  
 
On the final play of the first half, Hart found Klassen cutting through the paint. Klassen took the pass and made the layup to give her team the 34-33 halftime lead.
 
Hart's layup a couple of minutes into the third quarter made the score 40-35 for SFU. CWU scored the next 10 to grab a five-point edge of its own. Then the home side fired back as a Killins shot from long distance in the last minute pushed SFU back in front 51-46, before a pair of CWU foul shots rounded out the offence.
 

In the fourth, Hart's early layup levelled the score at 53-53, the seventh and last tie of the contest. A Swant foul shot with 7:40 to go in regulation allowed SFU to go ahead 54-53. Then on the next possession, freshman forward Gemma Cutler blocked three CWU shots in a row before Jones was able to control the rebound.
 
Undeterred, the Wildcats posted an 8-0 run to lead 61-54, thanks in part to three inside baskets from Bowman.
 
With 2:34 left in the game, sophomore guard/forward Jessica Wisotzki drew SFU to within four points at 64-60 with a three-point bucket. However, CWU replied with a jump shot its next trip up the floor with just over two minutes remaining. SFU tried to foul to get back into the game but the Wildcats converted their next six free throws to widen the margin to the final score of 72-60. CWU outscored their hosts 24-9 in the final period to improve to 12-4 overall, and 5-2 in the GNAC, tied for second.
 
SFU fell to 5-9 overall, and 1-4 in GNAC play. The team shot 33.3 per cent from the field (23 of 69) and on three-point attempts (10 of 30). It converted half of its eight shots from the free throw line.
 
CWU shot 40 per cent from the field (26 of 65) and 15 per cent (3 of 20) from long distance. The Wildcats were successful on 73.9 per cent of their foul shots (17 of 23).
 
SFU will head onto the road for its next two outings. It will face Western Oregon on Thursday at 7 p.m., and Saint Martin's (Wash.) on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. SFU will the host home games on Feb. 1, 3 and 5.

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