BURNABY, B.C. – The visiting Alaska Anchorage Seawolves beat the Simon Fraser women's basketball team 76-55 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game Thursday night at the West Gym in Burnaby. In a contest with some big momentum swings, SFU led 26-13 after a period and 40-32 at the half. However, 44 second-half points lifted UAA to the triumph.
 
SFU fell to 10-12 overall and 6-7 in GNAC play. The Seawolves, the second-place team in the GNAC, improved to 17-4 and 10-3 in conference matchups.
 
Senior guard Jessica Jones recorded 16 points, four assists and three steals for SFU. Sophomore guard / forward Jessica Wisotzki posted 15 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Junior guard Georgia Swant had a game-high eight assists.
 
Tennae Voliva led the Seawolves with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Jazzpher Evans had five steals, and UAA recorded 18 in total.
 
SFU began the game on an incredible roll, making 10 of 13 field goals in the opening quarter, with nine of them assisted. Swant had six assists. Jones scored 16 points, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including four shots from long distance.
 
SFU led by six, 15-9, with just over four minutes to go in the first. Jones had 10 of her team's first 15 points, while senior forward Claudia Hart had the other five. In just over a minute, Jones hit a pair of three-point baskets, bookending a layup by freshman forward Gemma Cutler. That 8-0 run increased SFU's advantage to 23-9. The squad led by 13 (26-13) at the end of the first.
 
UAA came back to tie the game at 32-32 late in the second quarter, but SFU finished the half on an 8-0 run. Junior guard/forward Sophie Klassen started the surge with a layup before two foul shots each from Wisotzki and Swant. The last basket of the half came on a Wisotzki layup that made the score 40-32.
 

UAA rallied in the second half, scoring 22 points in the third and fourth periods. The Seawolves took the lead, 45-44, midway through the third quarter and did not trail again. UAA held a 54-45 advantage going into the fourth. SFU got as close as seven in the final period of play but the visitors pulled away for the triumph.

The hosts shot 34.5 per cent from the field (19 of 55), 20.8 per cent from behind the three-point line, and 75 per cent at the foul line (12 of 16).

UAA converted 42.6 per cent of its field goal attempts (26 of 61), 31.8 per cent of its chances from long distance (7 of 22) and 85 per cent of its free throws (17 of 20).

SFU will host Alaska at the West Gym Saturday at 7 p.m. A rematch, re-scheduled from January 20, will be contested Feb. 22 in Fairbanks at 5 p.m. PT.

The final home game for Canada's NCAA team will take place on Saturday, February 26 (5:15 p.m.) as part of a doubleheader with the men's squad (7:30 p.m.). Senior student-athletes on both teams will be honoured in their final appearance at SFU. It will feature the Whiteout t-shirt toss to send both teams off to the conference playoffs. T-shirts will be tossed into the crowd throughout the games and fans are encouraged to wear white.

For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit https://athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics.

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