Never mind the Alaska Dream. Check out Mansfield's nightmare against UAA women's basketball team.
For the second straight night at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, the UAA women's basketball team sent the Mountaineers reeling, this time claiming an 89-43 victory Monday over the visitors from Pennsylvania.
UAA coach Tim Moser thought his team got out-hustled in the series opener, even though the No. 4-ranked Seawolves won by 35 points.
But Monday night?
"I thought we played with purpose," Moser said.
Nicci Miller paved the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Tamar Gruwell had her best all-around outing at UAA with season-highs of six assists, four steals and four rebounds as the Seawolves (9-1) won their seventh straight game.
Gruwell and senior forward Dasha Basova scored 14 points apiece for UAA, while freshman Hanna Johansson added 10 points for the second straight time, this time getting her points on 5 of 8 shooting.
All-American forward Rebecca Kielpinski scored four points and took only two shots, but then again, she only played 23 minutes as almost everyone on the 13-player roster recorded double-digit minutes.
The game was tied 5-5 early, but UAA got a fast-break layup from Kielpinski to start a 13-0 run, and the lead quickly ballooned to 39-9 at the 5:34 mark of the first half.
Basova scored 12 of her points in the opening stanza as UAA built its third-largest halftime lead ever against a Division II opponent 47-16.
The performance gave Moser a sign the Seawolves are ready for this weekend's games against Cal State Stanislaus, a Division II team with a 6-1 record.
"I think this game gave confidence to our shooters," he said. "This weekend is huge for us -- the two biggest games of the year so far."
Mansfield 16 27 -- 43
UAA 47 42 -- 89
MANSFIELD -- Brooks 3-12 3-4 11; Moore 2-7 4-5 8; Atallah 2-4 0-0 5; Correll 0-2 4-8 4; McBroom 1-7 0-0 3; Espigh 1-5 0-0 2; Pender, 0-2 2-4 2; Pollack 1-4 0-1 2; Morgan Hafer 1-4 0-0 2; Meredith Hafer 1-3 0-0 2; K. Akins 0-0 2-2 2; E. Akins 0-2 0-0 0; Lacey 0-3 0-0 0; Tracy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-55 15-24 43.
UAA -- Miller 6-11 3-5 16; Gruwell 5-10 2-2 14; Basova 5-12 2-2 14; Johansson 5-8 0-0 10; Thiel 3-5 0-0 9; Harris 4-9 0-0 9; Burnett 3-4 1-2 8; Kielpinski 1-2 2-2 4; Dekel 1-2 0-0 3; Aden 1-4 0-0 2; Wohlers 0-0 0-2 0; Taylor 0-1 0-0 0; Collins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-68 10-15 89.
Halftime score -- UAA 47, Mansfield 16.
3-point goals -- Mansfield 4-19 (Brooks 2-5; McBroom 1-1; Atallah 1-2; Espigh 0-2; Pender 0-1; Morgan Hafer 0-1; Meredith Hafer 0-2; E. Akins, 0-1; Lacey 0-1; Correll 0-1; Moore 0-2), UAA 11-27 (Thiel 3-5; Gruwell 2-6; Basova 2-6; Burnett 1-2; Harris 1-3; Dekel, 1-2; Miller 1-2; Aden,Nikki 0-1). Fouled out -- none. Rebounds -- Mansfield 31 (Pollack 6; Moore 6), UAA 51 (Miller 10). Assists -- Mansfield 10 (Correll 3), UAA 25 (Gruwell 6). Total fouls -- Mansfield 14, UAA 23. Technical foul -- Pender. A -- 327.
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