The final day of the prestigious CCA Division II Canadian Tip-Off Classic at the 91原创 Events Centre saw six games on the schedule for Sunday, Nov. 5.
Six men鈥檚 and six women鈥檚 basketball teams were competing in the exhibition tournament, which tipped off Friday, Nov. 3, with 91原创鈥檚 Sophia and Jessica Wisotzki and their teammates on the Simon Fraser University Red Leafs falling to the NCAA seventh-ranked University of Texas-Tyler Patriots 64-50.
While the Wisotzki siblings racked up points, it was not enough to overcome the Patriots.
Jessica went 7-for-10 from the free throw line and finished with a team-high 13 points, while Sophia added 10 points, as did junior 6-2 post Gemma Cutler of North Vancouver, who also grabbed a team-high six rebounds while coping with UT-Tyler鈥檚 crash-and-bang interior defence over her 33-plus minutes.
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The veteran-laden Patriots limited the Red Leafs to 21 per cent shooting (5-of-24) from the field over the first half.
鈥淭hey run such a good offence with all of their ball screens,鈥� said UT-Tyler head coach Rebecca Alvidrez.
鈥淪o we knew defence was going to be the key for us. We had to make sure that we tried to make them one-dimensional.鈥�
With a starting lineup culled from Sweden, New Zealand, Spain and Slovakia, and a roster featuring several prominent NCAA Div. 1 drop-downs, the Lone Star Conference鈥檚 Patriots brought a level of grit and toughness which was a clear step up from anything the Red Leafs had faced in the preseason.
鈥淚 thought we weren鈥檛 prepared,鈥� said Red Leafs head coach Bruce Langford who team trailed 30-15 at the half. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 prepare them well enough. We鈥檇 played some teams in exhibition, but no one that gave us a push.鈥�
Simon Fraser saved its best for last, rediscovering its offence in the second half and, after trailing by as many as 22 points in the opening half, cut the lead to 58-50 with 2:30 to play on a basket from 91原创鈥檚 Makenna Gardner. Former Brookswood Secondary player Sahnya Gill scored two points.
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鈥淚 think that everyone鈥檚 weaknesses come to the fore when you get involved in a physical war,鈥� said Langford of his players. 鈥淎ll of our key players have to be able to read the game and understand when it is that people are trying to take them out of of what they do. And then all of our other players have to be able to play off of that.鈥�
Saturday, Colorado Mesa downed SFU 77-60 in the Red Leafs second of three games. The Wisotzki siblings had 27 points combined, with Jessica getting 17 and Sophia 10. Gardner had two. Former 91原创 Christian player Myrlaine Shelvey had three.
The Red Leafs met Texas A&M International Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. on the LEC south court.
Texas won 82-75.
Jessica (22) and Sophie Wisotzki (14) were first and third highest point getters for the Red Leafs, while SFU鈥檚 Gemma Cutler was second with 15. Shelvey had three points, and Gill had three.
The tournament website is
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