The Seawolves put on a second-half show on Seattle Pacific's home court to make things close Thursday, but the Falcons did what they always do when UAA visits during the regular season. They won.
They edged the 8th-ranked Seawolves 67-62 to run their regular-season home record against UAA to 11-0, a streak that dates back to 2001-02, the year the Great Northwest Athletic Conference was formed.
UAA (19-4 overall, 10-2 GNAC) remains atop the league standings despite the loss, although its lead over second-place Western Washington slipped to 1 1/2 games. Seattle Pacific (14-6, 8-4) is in third place, two games behind UAA.
Seattle Pacific won the game with a big first half and big contributions from its bench, which outscored UAA's reserves 21-6. And they held All-American center Hanna Johansson to a career-low four points.
The Falcons led 42-25 at the half thanks to Nyesha Sims, who had all 13 of her points in the first 20 minutes, and a dominant rebounding effort that limited UAA to a single offensive board. UAA hurt itself with 14 turnovers, which negated its 47.6 shooting percentage.
The Seawolves were a different team after the break. They opened with an 8-0 run and were in total command for the first 13 minutes, outscoring SPU 25-7 to climb out of the hole and grab a 50-49 lead on a pair of Kaylie Robison free throws with 6 minutes, 49 seconds left.
The lead didn't last long. Seattle Pacific's Katie Benson scored seven points in the next three minutes to put her team back on top.
UAA had opportunities after that, and was within two points, 57-55, after Gritt Ryder's 3-pointer at 3:37. But the Seawolves missed their next three shots and their bench got whistled for a technical foul at 2:08 to send SPU's Jordan Harazin to the foul line for two points.
Ryder hit 3 of 7 from long-range to finish with a career-high 15 points, scoring 13 of them in the second half to spearhead UAA's comeback. Haley Holmstead added 13 points.
Sims added nine rebounds and five assists and Harazin chipped in nine points and nine rebounds for the Falcons, who finished with a 38-34 advantage on the boards after owning the Seawolves 17-11 in the first half.
UAA, which was riding a five-game winning streak when it left Anchorage, heads to Montana next for a Saturday game against MSU-Billings.
UAA (62) -- Ryder 6-10 0-0 15; Holmstead 5-8 4-4 14; King 5-14 0-0 13; Robison 4-7 2-2 10; Johansson 1-5 2-3 4; Deichmann 1-4 0-0 2; Horn1-4 0-0 2; Burns 0-3 2-2 2; Seale 0-0 0-0 0; Richens 0-0 0-0 0; Mathews 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 10-11 62.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (67) -- Sims 5-13 2-2 13; Callen 3-8 2-2 9; Harazin 1-2 7-8 9; Benson 2-5 4-4 9; Reimer 2-4 2-3 6; Butler 3-8 0-0 6; Gorman 2-3 0-3 5; Ohlsen 2-5 1-2 5; Kingma 1-5 0-0 3; Teng 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 22-55 18-24 67.
UAA 25 37 -- 62
Seattle Pacific 42 25 -- 67
3-point goals -- UAA 6-17 (Ryder 3-7; King 3-7; Horn 0-1; Burns 0-1; Mathews 0-1), Seattle Pacific 5-18 (Gorman 1-2; Benson 1-3; Kingma 1-4; Callen 1-3; Sims 1-4; Ohlsen 0-2). Total fouls -- UAA 22, SPU 15. Fouled out -- Johansson, King, Ryder. Technical foul -- UAA. Rebounds -- UAA 34 (Horn 9), Seattle Pacific 38 (Harazin 9; Sims 9). Assists -- UAA 10 (King4), Seattle Pacific 18 (Sims 5). Turnovers -- UAA 18 (Holmstead 5, King 4), SPU 16 (Sims 5). Steals -- UAA 7 (King 2), SPU 8 (Gorman 2, Butler 2). Blocked shots -- UAA 3, SPU 2.
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