BURNABY — Every team with post-season aspirations needs to author a signature win.
 
On Thursday, the Simon Fraser Red Leafs (12-11, 4-6 GNAC) finally got theirs, signing on the dotted line just when it mattered most in writing a heart-stopping 79-72 come-from-behind overtime win over the visiting, favoured Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (12-7, 6-4).
 
"They are hard to play, they are hard to rile, they get a lead and then they just roll on you," said SFU head coach Bruce Langford, whose team had lost 10 straight to UAA before rallying from 17 points down late in the third quarter to triumph behind an awe-inspiring 22-7 regulation-closing run which forced overtime.
 
"They have no mercy, they just go for your jugular and I thought we didn't let them go for the jugular very well," added Langford, whose Red Leafs had one just five times in its 14-game home history against the Seawolves dating back to 1999. "I thought we showed some grit."
 
Simon Fraser opened the evening locked in a three-way tie for the GNAC's sixth and final playoff spot with the Seattle Pacific Falcons and Western Oregon Wolves.
 
The Falcons beat Central Washington 76-65 Thursday to stay even with SFU while Western Oregon was idle. SFU, by virtue of its 83-57 win over the Falcons at home last Saturday, hold the tiebreaker and the final playoff spot with eight more games left in the regular season.
 

On Thursday, after getting off to the kind of the start it needed against the road-savvy Seawolves, the Red Leafs seemed to lose their way over the combined span of the second and third quarter, over which it was outscored 33-17 by the visitors, shooting 7-of-22 from the field, including just 1-of-8 from three-point range.
 
And after Vishe Rabb nailed a jumper with 2:21 left in the third quarter for Anchorage to make it 54-37, there was almost no reason to think that a rally was in the works.
 
Yet still trailing UAA by 15 points with just over seven minutes remaining, one of the most significant comebacks in program history began to unfold, reaching its zenith when junior guard Sophia Wisotzki (Langley, B.C.) dropped a stone-cold dagger three-pointer from the wing with 32 seconds left, as UAA's Jaisa Gamble closed out with hand in her face.
 
There were so many highlight-reel hoops over that 22-7 game-closing run to overtime.
 
It started with 7:09 left when freshman guard Rachel Loukes threw a Patrick Mahomes-worthy 30-foot pass downcourt to find a streaking guard Myrlaine Shelvey (Langley, B.C.) in full flight for a lay-in to make it 58-47.
 
There was Loukes again with a baseline inbounds pass to Sophia Wisotzki right in front of the SFU bench for a foot-on-the-arc two-pointer that made it 59-54 with 3:02 left.
 
There was a Shelvey steal and subsequent Jessica Wisotzki (Langley, B.C.) feed to sister Sophia for three-pointer that made it 61-60 with 1:53 left.
 
And in the overtime, there was more than enough gas in the Red Leafs' tank to refute the old basketball adage that teams which rally for ties from big deficits never have the juice to put it over the top.
 
It was a combined 15-minute fourth quarter and OT that hinted at greater things to come.
 
SFU shot 14-of-28 from the field over that span, including 7-of-15 from distance, while holding Anchorage to 7-of-24 including misses on all seven chances from three-point range.
 

It was big blocks and rebounds from junior forward Gemma Cutler of North Vancouver, B.C. (six points, five rebounds, eight blocks), and it was a degree of efficiency verging on disbelief for the Wisotzki sisters, who one game after combining for 52 points in the win over Seattle Pacific, combined for 49 points against the 'Wolves.
 
Sophia scored a game-high 26 points, including 6-of-12 from distance. Jessica – the senior guard/forward – dropped 23 and went 4-of-9 from downtown.
 
"I told (Sophia Wisotzki) that we were taking the ball too much to the hoop," began Langford after the win. "I said to her 'You've just got to hit some threes because you can't score 'em if you don't shoot 'em,' and she says 'You mean just shoot them?' and I said 'Yeah, just shoot them.' "
 
Sometimes simple works best.
 
And on top of that, SFU got incredible play from its sophomore Shelvey and its pure freshman Loukes.
 

Shelvey scored a career-high 19 points to go along with six rebounds, and is clearly coming into her own.
 
"Lainey is an outstanding athlete who has been a little bit slow to develop confidence in the game at this level and as she's started to gain it, her athleticism is paying off for her and she is as quick as lightning," Langford explained after the former Langley Christian standout logged a career-high 30 minutes.
 
And then there was Loukes.
 
Basketball aficionados who collect curious box scores might treasure the one Loukes authoured.
 
In 26 minutes, the Prince George, B.C., native did not take a shot from the field and missed on all four of her free throws, yet she grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, had four assists, three steals, a number of key deflections, and did not have a single turnover.
 
Surrounded by the Wisotzki sisters, she has been a catalyst despite her reticence to shoot.
 
"And on top of all of that, she's a plus-22, the highest in the game," added Langford of Loukes, whose former high school teammates from Prince George's College Heights Secondary, in town for a tournament, cheered her on from the stands.
 
So versatile is Loukes, that Langford had her playing something that resembled a dual point guard-power forward position late in the game.
 
"I thought we needed her to bring the ball inbounds, and then to race out of that situation and get into the post because she can jump and rebound," said Langford. "She got three of the next four rebounds inside at a crucial part of the game when (Anchorage) were in a zone. She got rebounds and deflections. She's another one who is going to be good."
 
For her part, Loukes is hopeful that the team's improved play of late — two straight wins and victories in three of its past five — is the start of a turnaround.
 
"We had that big run at the beginning of the season and I am happy we are getting that momentum back," Loukes said of a seven-game Red Leafs' win streak which was followed by a 2-6 stretch from late November through the team's home loss to Central Washington on Jan. 13.
 
"I have a really good feeling that everyone is in the right headspace and that is something we've all been striving towards."
 
Rabb led the Seawolves with 15 points while Sanya Rabouin and Elaina Mack each added 11.
 
The Red Leafs look to extend their win streak to three games when they play the Alaska Nanooks (2-8) on Saturday (1 p.m., Red Leafs TV) at the West Gym. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/sfu-womens-basketball-vs-university-of-alaska-tickets-681872237217
 
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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