BURNABY, B.C. – Junior guard / forward Jessica Wisotzki scored 13 points for Simon Fraser to surpass 1,000 in her career, but the sixth-seeded Red Leafs couldn't overcome an early deficit in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference quarter-final against No. 3 seed Central Washington. SFU lost 88-62 to the Wildcats at the GNAC Women's Basketball Championships Thursday night in Bellingham, Washington. Wisotzki now has 1,007 points in her career with her senior campaign to come.

Sophomore forward Gemma Cutler (North Vancouver, B.C.) recorded 17 points and nine rebounds to lead SFU (10-13, 8-10 GNAC). She was successful on eight of 11 field goals.

Thursday's game was the last in a Red Leafs uniform for seniors Sophie Klassen (forward, Chilliwack, B.C.), Emma Kramer (guard, Surrey, B.C.) and Georgia Swant (guard, North Vancouver, B.C.). Klassen tied Cutler for the team lead in blocks with two. Swant had the most assists (four) of anyone in the SFU lineup, and Kramer contributed nine points.

GNAC Player of the Year Samantha Bowman had 40 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists for the Wildcats (21-7, 12-6 GNAC). She set the GNAC Championships records in scoring, field goals made, field goal attempts, and broke the all-time conference career rebounding record, which was 1,182 coming into the day. Bowman's 40 points is tied for the sixth-most by a GNAC player in a game (regular season or playoffs), while her 18 field goals matched the overall league record.
 

The Red Leafs had a big third quarter, outscoring Central Washington 26-12. Trailing 65-32 with just under seven minutes left in the period, SFU put together an 18-4 run. Sophomore guard Sophia Wisotzki (Langley, B.C.) made a layup to spark the surge, before Cutler blocked a Bowman jump shot to give her team the ball back. The younger Wisotzki then completed the possession with a layup. Then around the 6-minute mark, Klassen stole the ball and converted a fast-break layup to make it 65-38. A Cutler layup and a Kramer triple from the right sideline cut the deficit to 67-43 with 4:52 to go in the third.

After a layup by Claire Heitschmidt of the Wildcats, the Red Leafs put together seven consecutive points to end the quarter. The run consisted of a Klassen layup with 3:48 on the clock. Then she made a pair of foul shots with just over a minute to go, before junior guard Grace Killins (Coquitlam, B.C.) nailed a jumper with 52 seconds left as well as the ensuing free throw after getting fouled on the play. SFU trailed 69-50 going into the fourth.

However, the Red Leafs were unable to trim their deficit below 19 points, and saw their 2022-23 season come to a close. 

Central Washington set the tone early, stringing together a 15-2 run after the two teams put up a basket each to begin the contest. The Wildcats then used a 10-0 surge that bridged the first two quarters to extend their advantage to 38-12. They closed the half with 11 straight points to lead 57-24 at the mid-game break.

Simon Fraser shot 37.1 per cent (23 of 62) from the field and 88.2 per cent (15-17) from the free-throw line. The team converted one of 14 tries from behind the three-point arc. CWU made a league tournament record 37 field goals on 74 chances (50 per cent), and 44 per cent of its three-point attempts (11 of 25). The Wildcats went 3-for-6 at the foul line.

The Red Leafs forced 21 turnovers, while giving up 14. CWU won the rebounding battle 47-27.

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