BURNABY, B.C. – The Simon Fraser Red Leafs women's basketball team scored a season-high 89 points Thursday night in an 89-78 victory over Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Alaska at the West Gym in Burnaby, B.C.
 
Sophomore forward Gemma Cutler (North Vancouver, B.C.) had her best game in an SFU (3-3, 1-1 GNAC) uniform, tying career highs in points (19) and field goals (eight, on 11 attempts). She blocked a career-best six shots, tied for the second-most in the Red Leafs' NCAA era, which began in the fall of 2010.
 
Junior guard / forward Jessica Wisotzki continued her season-long streak of reaching at least 20 points by posting 24 against the Nanooks (3-7, 0-3 GNAC). She made eight of 16 field goal attempts, and all six foul shots. The player from Langley, B.C., is averaging 24.8 points per contest, and remains second in NCAA Division II women's basketball in scoring average.
 
Sophomore guard and sister Sophia Wisotzki recorded a career-high nine assists, the most by an SFU player since Tayler Drynan had 10 on Feb. 23, 2019 at Central Washington.
 
Emma McKenney led the visitors with 20 points. Ellen Silva recorded 13 points and nine rebounds, while Sam Tolliver also contributed 13 points.
 
"I was happy with our scoring, and consistency," said SFU head coach Bruce Langford. "In terms of scoring per quarter, we had 23, 23, 22, and 21 points, and I thought that was good. I wasn't happy with some of our decision making late in the game when Alaska had to scramble after us. I don't think we handled the double team as well as we can, and should."
 
The Red Leafs led 46-36 at the half. The visitors shaved that advantage to just a half-dozen points, 52-46, on a Tolliver three-point basket with just over six minutes to go in the third quarter. However, that was as close as Alaska got in the second half, as SFU did not allow any huge runs.
 
A Cutler block led to a three-point shot by junior guard Grace Killins (Coquitlam, B.C.) with about four minutes left in the quarter to put the Red Leafs back up by double digits, 60-48. The gap between the teams hovered around the 10-point margin for the rest of the period, which concluded with the home side up 68-56.
 
The fourth quarter played out similarly, as SFU had a response for seemingly every Alaska score. The visitors closed to 70-59 early, but senior guard Georgia Swant (North Vancouver, B.C.) answered with a long-distance shot to make it 73-59. With about six minutes on the clock, Alaska got to within single digits, 75-67, only for sophomore Makenna Gardner to reply with a jump shot, a steal, and a pair of successful foul shots on the ensuing possessions. Those plays pushed the guard from Langley, B.C., to a new career high in points with 12.
 

 
Late Wisotzki threes, first by Jessica, and then by Sophia, kept the margin too wide for the Nanooks to overcome. A layup by senior forward Sophie Klassen (Chilliwack, B.C.) gave SFU its largest lead of the night at 89-73.
 
The teams were level at 25 points apiece early in the second quarter. The Red Leafs led by a point with just over two minutes left before halftime, before they put together a quarter-ending 9-0 run. Up 37-36, SFU got a Cutler layup, two Gardner foul shots, a layup and one from Cutler, and a fast-break bucket by Sophia Wisotzki. The Red Leafs' earned five defensive stops in the final two minutes of the half.
 
SFU got an 11-2 stretch, capped off by a three from sophomore guard Arman Dulai (Surrey, B.C.), to go ahead 23-12 in the first quarter, before Alaska closed with five-consecutive points.
 
"We've been talking with Sophia (Wisotzki) on trying to read the defence a little better when she's coming to attack the hoop and getting the ball to people, rather than being predictable, and I thought she did that really well, especially early," said Langford. "It was nice to have Georgia Swant back hitting some shots. She's been injured and hasn't practiced very much for six weeks. And it was nice to see Emma Kramer hitting a few shots. We got contributions from a lot of players."
 
Langford's team made 10 three-point baskets on 31 attempts (32.3 per cent), and went 33 of 72 (45.8 per cent) in overall field goal shooting. The Red Leafs were successful on 13 of 17 free throws (76.5 per cent). They also out-rebounded the Nanooks 48-31. Alaska shot 42.4 per cent (25-59) from the field, and was slightly better on its long-range chances (8-18, 44.4 per cent). The team made 20 of 27 foul shots (74.1 per cent).
 
SFU is back in action on New Year's Eve, with a 1 p.m. tip-off against Alaska Anchorage, the No. 25 team in the latest NCAA Division II coaches' poll, at the West Gym. Tickets can be purchased at this link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/sfu-womens-basketball-vs-university-of-alaska-anchorage-tickets-451187793837
 
For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics.
 
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