HONOLULU, Hawai'i – The SFU Red Leafs remained perfect on Saturday night, as they weathered a late comeback attempt from the Hawaii Pacific Sharks as part of an 87-76 triumph on the final game of their regular season-opening weekend at the PacWest/GNAC Challenge in Honolulu..

A pair of juniors led the offensive attack for SFU, with Jessica Wisotzki posting a game-high 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field (9-of-10 from the line) to go along with three assists and a couple of boards. Meanwhile, Grace Killins was electric in just 21 minute of floor time – the guard notched 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting and was equally opportunistic on defense in notching a game-high three steals.

The first half was, for the most part, tightly contested. SFU held the lead for the majority of the opening 20, but the Sharks did well to keep the Red Leafs within striking distance. Up 31-30 with just over three three minutes remaining in the half, SFU turned the Sharks' physicality against them. SFU went to the line and made six consecutive free throws in the half's dying minutes, and a nifty Gemma Cutler layup capped off an 8-1 Red Leafs run just ahead of the break, giving them their biggest lead to that point at 39-31.

Wisotzki kept SFU's streak going coming out of the half, as she drilled a pair of deep triples back-to-back to put SFU up 45-31. HPU did well to get the gap down to as little as five points in the back half of the frame, running their offense through 6-3 center Abby Spurgin, who matched Wisotzki's game-high with 26 points in the contest.

Killins put SFU back into a comfortable lead as she nailed a pair of threes on a personal 6-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters, putting SFU back up by 13 at 69-56. The Sharks were relentless, getting a few hard-fought boards and forcing their way to the line several times. As Spurgin dropped a layup into the net with just 1:39 to play, SFU's lead had been whittled down to just 78-74.

But that's as close as the Red Leafs would allow the Sharks to get – SFU closed out the game on a free-throw-filled 8-2 run of their own, a stretch that also featured a brilliant play from Killins that saw the guard pick up a steal on the defensive end before nailing the ensuing three to ensure the SFU win.

The Red Leafs will now head home for an alumni contest next weekend, with tip-off set for 1:00 pm on Saturday, November 19^th in West Gym.
 
Fans will get there first look at this year's team when SFU begins conference play at home on Saturday, Dec. 3 with a men's and women's basketball double header against Western Washington. The women's game starts at 5:15 pm and the men's game is at 7:30 pm.
 
Women's basketball season tickets are on sale now for $99.45 and can be purchased here
 
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