Seawolves advance to Sweet 16

For the second day in a row, the Seawolves found a way to overcome a ton of turnovers and a sometimes lackluster offense, taking a 52-49 victory over UC-San Diego in a West Region semifinal Saturday in Seattle.

The Seawolves showed plenty of resourcefulness while surviving 20 turnovers and a seven-minute second-half stretch without a field goal to claim a spot in Monday's regional championship.

After leading by 10 with eight minutes to go, UAA squandered its lead and spent the final four minutes protecting a two-point lead.

Senior center Rebecca Kielpinski scored a pivotal basketball to end UAA's field goal drought with 2 minute, 46 seconds left, and sophomore forward Nikki Aden came up with a block, two defensive rebounds and a very important free throw in the final 92 seconds to carry the Seawolves.

"Could we make that more interesting?" UAA coach Tim Moser said. "We made plenty of (mistakes) but that's kind of been our MO all year -- we found a way to win, even if it's ugly."

Ranked second in the nation, UAA is 29-3 and one of 16 teams remaining in the 64-team tournament.

A trip to the Elite Eight in San Antonio will be on the line Monday at 6 p.m. Alaska time when the Seawolves face rival Seattle Pacific for the tournament championship. It's a rematch of last year's finale, which UAA won 50-44 on the Falcons' home court. This year's tournament is also at SPU's Brougham Pavilion in Seattle.

A sterling defensive performance made up for UAA's various miscues Saturday, which included all those turnovers and a 3-of-12 shooting effort from 3-point range, which is usually the comfort zone for several Seawolves.

The Seawolves stymied the Tritons (27-5), the champions of the California Collegiate Athletic Association who came into the game averaging 68 points a game but managed just 49 against UAA's pressure defense.

Ruby Williams and Hanna Johansson shut down Michelle Osier, San Diego's star player who last week beat UAA's Rebecca Kielpinski for Player of the Year honors in the West Region.

Osier, who averages 16 points, managed just five against Williams and Johansson, who took turns blanketing her.

"That was the key matchup," Moser said. "She's the best player in that league, and Ruby and Hanna did a tremendous job. They did a great job making it hard on her."

As for Kielpinski -- a first-team All-Region pick along with Osier -- she turned in her second straight outstanding game.

A 6-foot-2 senior, she finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals, plus she had the biggest basket of the game when she scored on an in-bounds play to give UAA a 51-47 edge with 2 minutes, 46 seconds remaining.

The field goal was UAA's first since the 9:45 mark, when Kiki Taylor's jumper gave UAA a 45-35 lead.

The teams traded points for a 47-37 UAA lead, and then San Diego went on an 8-0 run that made it a two-point game, 47-45.

But the Seawolves never surrendered their lead, because their defense never faltered down the stretch. In the final 90 seconds, UAA denied San Diego on its three final possessions.

First, Aden blocked Leilani Martin's shot and grabbed the rebound. Then Osier missed on consecutive possessions, with Kielpinski rebounding her first miss and Aden rebounding the second.

Aden's rebound came with two seconds left. Martin quickly fouled her, and although Aden missed her first free throw, she sank the second, giving UAA the final three-point cushion.

"I must admit it ran through my head that I've gotta make one of these," said Aden, whose parents, brother and sister-in-law were in the crowd.

After she missed the first one, she had another short conversation with herself: "Take a deep breath and shoot it just like in practice."

The second shot was good, stretching UAA's lead to three points.

A 60-foot buzzer shot by San Diego's Annette Ilg was short, denying Ilg of a second-straight game-winning bucket. On Friday, she scored at the buzzer to lift the Tritons to a one-point win over Cal State-Dominguez Hills.

"It came down to the last possession, bottom line," San Diego coach Charity Elliott said in a post-game press conference.

And it came down to the Seawolves being resourceful enough to win despite not playing a perfect game.

"This team's found a way to win 29 games, and it's done a tremendous job," Moser said.

UC-San Diego 22 27 -- 49

UAA 25 27 -- 52

UC-SAN DIEGO -- Carlisle 6-9 0-0 16, Gaskin 5-11 1-3 11, Martin 3-12 2-2 8, Osier 2-17 0-0 5, Freidenberg 2-2 0-0 4, Ilg 1-6 1-2 3, Cabral 1-4 0-2 2, Ehmke 0-0 0-0 0, Noonan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 4-9 49.

UAA -- Kielpinski 7-8 0-0 14, Taylor 4-11 2-5 10, Aden 3-3 1-2 8, Gruwell 3-4 0-0 7, Johansson 2-4 0-1 4, Williams 1-8 2-2 4, Dekel 1-1 0-0 3, Harris 1-4 0-0 2, Basova 0-3 0-0 0, Thiel 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 5-10 52.

3-point goals -- San Diego 5-12 (Carlisle 4-6, Osier 1-2, Martin 0-1, Ilg 0-1, Cabral 0-2), UAA 3-12 (Aden 1-1, Gruwell 1-2, Dekel 1-1, Harris 0-2, Basova 0-2, Thiel 0-4). Fouled out -- none. Rebounds -- San Diego 35 (Osier, Martin, Gaskin 7), UAA 39 (Kielpinski 9). Assists -- San Diego 11 (Carlisle, Martin 4), UAA 10 (Taylor 3). Total fouls -- San Diego 13, UAA 16. A -- 273.