UAA puts hurting on Nazarene

"Really slow start," Johansson said. "We kind of woke up and we played better defense in the second half."

Johansson and Holmstead led the way for the 12th-ranked Seawolves, each scoring 19 points at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. Johansson also recorded game highs in rebounds (16) and blocks (3) as UAA dominated the paint throughout.

The Seawolves (18-3, 9-1 GNAC) built a nine-point halftime lead and didn't allow Northwest Nazarene (11-7, 5-5) to entertain any ideas of a comeback, opening the second half on a 19-2 run. The win was UAA's fourth straight, all of which have come by at least a 20-point margin. The win also maintained a two-game hold on first place in the GNAC.

"I don't know if we saw Northwest's best shot or not," UAA coach Tim Moser said. "The most aggressive team usually wins and that wasn't us in the first half. The second half was ours, no doubt."

UAA's interior play was too much for Northwest Nazarene, and the Seawolves' stifling defense made the Crusaders' ball handlers look rattled at times.

"Everyone always loves it when the other team's frustrated," said Holmstead, who led all defenders with four steals.

The Seawolves outrebounded Northwest Nazarene 50-32 and held the Crusaders to 24-percent shooting. UAA also won the turnover battle, 25-15. For Northwest Nazarene, led by Briaunna King's nine points, it was one of the worst games of the season, Crusaders coach Kelli Lindley said.

"We weren't ready to play," she said. "We didn't block out, we didn't play defense. You're gonna lose by 40 when you don't come focused and ready to play."

The Crusaders were coming off two big home wins over Simon Fraser and Western Washington, both teams that were tied for second in the GNAC. Moser said he knows better than to compare one win to another and rank his team's performance against that of other teams.

"This is a crazy conference," he said. "The job of our team is to try and win the conference. It's really just about trying to get better."

Defense was the ultimate key to Thursday's victory, Moser said, but the offense was flowing primarily through the killer combo of Johansson and Holmstead.

"Haley is such an offensive machine," Moser said.

Holmstead made scoring look easy at times, faking out her defender with the dribble, hitting long jump shots and even using her 5-foot-7 frame to post up and score.

Johansson did the majority of her scoring near the rim, hitting 8 of 13 shots, while taking advantage of her size advantage. The 6-2 senior is two inches taller than the tallest players on Northwest Nazarene's roster. Most of the times she made up her mind to take the ball to the rim, there was no stopping her.

Of course, Johansson and Holmstead weren't the only ones putting up points. Twelve different Seawolves logged minutes and scored points, with eight players seeing more than 10 minutes of playing time. Kaylie Robison recorded eight points and five rebounds, and Alysa Horn and Kylie Burns each pitched in seven points and four rebounds.

Holmstead said the Seawolves, who entertain Central Washington on Saturday, are playing as well as they have all season, mostly because of lots of hard work put in on the practice court.

"We can go as far as we are willing to work for," she said. "There's always room to improve."

Reach Jeremy Peters at jpeters@adn.com or 257-4335.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE (39) -- King 3-10 3-4 9; Adams 2-5 0-0 6; Schindler 1-2 3-4 6; Dzhidzhiyeshvili. 2-9 1-4 5; Hingston 2-9 0-0 4; Schumann 1-4 0-0 3; Luke 0-6 3-4 3; Warwick 1-2 0-0 2; Skokankova 0-1 1-2 1; Smith 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 12-50 11-18 39.

UAA (79) -- Holmstead 8-15 3-5 19; Johansson 8-13 3-5 19; Robison 4-8 0-0 8; Horn 3-7 0-0 7; Burns 3-5 0-0 7; Madison 2-3 0-0 4; King1-5 1-2 3; Richens 1-2 0-0 3; Ryder 1-5 1-2 3; Seale 1-2 0-0 2; Martin 0-1 2-2 2; Mathews 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 33-71 10-16 79.

Northwest Nazarene 23 16 -- 39

UAA 32 47 -- 79

3-point goals -- Northwest Nazarene 4-12 (Adams 2-5; Schumann 1-2; Schindler 1-1; Luke 0-2; Dzhidzhiyeshvili 0-2), UAA 3-17 (Richens 1-1; Horn 1-3; Burns 1-3; King 0-2; Ryder 0-3; Martin 0-1; Mathews 0-3; Holmstead 0-1). Total fouls -- Northwest Nazarene 17, UAA 22. Fouled out -- none. Rebounds -- Northwest Nazarene 32 (Dzhidzhiyeshvili 6), UAA 50 (Johansson 16). Assists -- Northwest Nazarene 11(3 with 2), UAA 25 (King 6). Turnovers -- Northwest Nazarene 25 (King 5), UAA 15 (Holmstead 4, Mathews 4). Blocked shots -- Northwest Nazarene 1, UAA 5 (Johansson 3). A -- 430.