BURNABY, B.C. – The Simon Fraser women's basketball team held off the visiting Saint Martin's (Wash.) Saints Tuesday, winning their Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest 66-61 at the West Gym in Burnaby.
 
Playing against each other for the second time in four days, Canada's NCAA team earned the season split with the five-point triumph after an 86-74 loss on Saturday. The hosts held a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter but the Saints rallied to get within three in the final minute.

Three SFU (7-10, 3-5 GNAC) players reached double digits in scoring: freshman forward Gemma Cutler (14 points), senior guard Jessica Jones (12), and junior guard Georgia Swant (10). Cutler was also the team's co-leader in rebounds, tying junior guard/forward Sophie Klassen with seven. Klassen recorded three blocks, the most of any player in the GNAC Tuesday.
 
Claire Dingus of SMU (10-7, 2-6 GNAC) nearly finished with a triple-double, going for 21 points, 11 rebounds, and seven steals.
 
"I'm most happy that we stuck it out in the fourth quarter," said SFU head coach Bruce Langford. "I thought were pretty good for three quarters. I thought in the fourth, when they came after us a little bit, we maybe were a little careless and sloppy with the ball, and in decision-making. In the first half, we were really in some foul trouble with everybody having two, and the bench came up strong. Gemma Cutler came in and did a good job, and Sophie Klassen battled some people defensively and made their lives hard. We needed that with the other kids in foul trouble."
 

Tierney DeDonatis of the Saints nailed a three-point jump shot from the top of the arc with 33 seconds left in the game to bring her team with within three points of SFU at 64-61. SMU defensive pressure then forced a timeout by the hosts. But on the ensuing in-bounds play, Jones threw the ball to Cutler, who had cut behind the Saints' defence. She streaked to the hoop and made the layup with 21 seconds remaining to seal the win.
 
SFU took a slim 30-27 lead into halftime. The squad opened the third with a 12-2 run. Cutler's layup inside the final minute gave her team a 15-point advantage at 46-31.
 
Another Cutler basket, with just under seven minutes on the clock in the fourth quarter, put SFU up by 15 for third and final time. From there, the Saints went on a 21-9 surge but it wasn't enough for a victory.
 
SFU scored 10 of the game's first 12 points. Freshman Makenna Gardner's bucket with less than three minutes left in the opening quarter pushed the lead to 12-3 but the visitors closed with a 10-2 rally.
 
Saint Martin's took the lead with the first score of the second period. The two teams spent the rest of the quarter locked in a close battle, with neither side holding an edge larger than five points.
 

Both programs shot 39.7 per cent from the field (25 of 63 for SFU and 23 of 58 for SMU) on Tuesday.

The Canadian squad made 5 of 16 three-point attempts (31.3 per cent) and 11 of 13 free throws (84.6 per cent). It also forced 21 SMU turnovers, while giving up 14. The Saints were 3 of 13 (23.1 per cent) on long-distance chances and 12 of 14 on foul shots (85.7 per cent).
 
SFU's next game is on Saturday at home against Seattle Pacific. The tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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