The Western State College women's basketball team saw two UAA teams this weekend: the bad one and the mad one.
The mad one, fired up by Saturday's one-point loss that cost the Seawolves their undefeated record, showed Sunday just how good it can be when playing with purpose.
Fifth-ranked UAA got revenge and then some with a 92-57 bruising of Western State in a nonconference game at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
The Seawolves did everything they didn't do in the previous night's 36-35 loss. They finished plays on offense, they controlled the boards with authority, and defensively, they pressed and pressed and pressed the Mustangs into submission.
UAA (9-1) thoroughly dominated the Mustangs, who showed some of the same scrappiness that carried them Saturday but simply couldn't get anything going offensively Sunday.
Credit the UAA defense for that. Almost every shot the Mustangs took came with the 30-second shot clock in single digits. They seldom got the ball inside to their post players, and they were victimized by 10 UAA steals.
If this was a statement game for the Seawolves, consider the message signed, sealed and delivered.
"I know how disappointed and disgusted I was with (Saturday's) effort," UAA coach Tim Moser said. "It's never good to lose. But it's good for me to see the character of the team after getting (beat)."
The gang that couldn't shoot straight on Saturday was red-hot on Sunday.
With two players registering career highs and a third equaling a career high, UAA hit exactly half of its 66 field goal attempts and 10 of its 24 3-pointers.
Tamar Gruwell shot her way out of a slump by nailing 5 of 8 from 3-point range on her way to 17 points, matching her career high.
And Nikki Aden and Sarah Herrin posted career highs with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Aden was key to the turnaround from Saturday's sad 23 shooting percentage. She scored eight of UAA's first 10 points, including six on treys, to lift UAA to an early 10-4 lead.
UAA led 40-25 at the half and played an even better second half, at one point leading by 44 points.
The Seawolves performed better against Western State's zone defense and wore down the Mustangs by platooning players.
"We need to play as hard as we can for as long as we can," Moser said.
The Seawolves begin their holiday break today and will reunite in Hawaii on Dec. 30 to play Chaminade.
WESTERN STATE -- Hall 3-8 7-9 13, Forbes 1-6 3-4 5, Murray 6-11 8-9 21, Pendergraft 2-4 4-4 9, Trujillo 1-4 1-2 3, Lliteras 0-0 0-0 0, Cona 1-2 3-4 6, Dobbs 0-0 0-0 0, Davenport 0-0 0-0 0, Giese 0-1 0-2 0, Zehnder 0-2 0-0 0, Stensgard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 14-39 26-34 57.
UAA -- Miller 4-7 4-6 13, Johansson 3-4 3-3 9, Taylor 1-3 1-3 3, Gruwell 6-9 5-8 17, Aden 7-14 2-3 18, Collins 0-1 0-0 0, Nenbee 2-4 2-2 6, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Stepovich 0-3 0-0 0, McBride 0-1 0-0 0, Horn 0-0 0-0 0, Herrin 6-10 2-4 16, Wohlers 0-0 0-0 0, Larsen 0-0 0-0 0, Gourdin 4-10 2-2 10. Totals: 33-66 16-23 92.
Three-point goals -- Western State 3-9 (Cona 1-1, Murray 1-2, Pendergraft 1-3, Forbes 0-1, Trujillo 0-2); UAA 10-24 (Gruwell 5-8, Aden 2-5, Herrin 2-5, Miller 1-3, Taylor 0-1). Total fouls -- Western State 23, UAA 31. Fouled out -- Western State: Hall; UAA: Taylor, McBride. Rebounds -- Western State 22 (Hall 5); UAA 40 (Gourdin 7). Assists -- Western State 10 (Murray 3); UAA 24 (Taylor 4, McBride 4). Officials -- Brodzik, Mitchell, Floyd. A -- 507.
Western State 25 32 -- 57
UAA 40 52 -- 92
By BETH BRAGG
bbragg@adn.com