Alaska News

King keys win for UAA women

UAA's Sasha King was everywhere Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

She drove to the rim, buried long jumpers and played pesky defense that led to several turnovers by the opposition. Her 25 points led all scorers in UAA's 93-82 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win over Seattle Pacific.

The senior point guard also dished nine assists in leading a crisp passing attack that set up a lot of open shots for the Seawolves.

"Everyone was finding the open person," King said. "You win when you play like a team."

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the sixth-place Seawolves (11-9, 5-7 GNAC), who inched closer to fifth-place Seattle Pacific (12-8, 6-6 GNAC).

"We definitely took another step forward," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said. "When you hit shots, everything is better, but I thought our offensive flow was a lot better tonight."

The game was the first chance for fans in Anchorage to see King in person in more than a month. King returned to action last week in the middle of a four-game road trip after an ankle injury kept her out four weeks.

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Having her back is a game-changer, McCarthy said.

"She's so valuable, because she's a very good on-ball defender," he said. "One thing that I think gets overshadowed in her game is her decision making. She makes really good decisions after she beats the initial defender, and that helps our offense click."

Junior Kylie Burns made several big shots on her way to a career-high 22 points for the Seawolves. Senior Alysa Horn came into the game needing 10 points to become the 12th UAA woman to eclipse 1,000 for her career, and she got 16. Freshman Jenna Buchanan was the fourth UAA player to reach double digits, scoring 14.

Seattle Pacific, led by 21 points from Katie Benson, came in riding two-game winning streak, but has now lost five of its last seven.

The Seawolves, who will host Montana State-Billings on Saturday, held a 44-38 at the half, but the lead changed six times in the second half as both teams maintained a frantic pace.

The score was tied 69-69 with 6:21 remaining, but 3-pointers from Burns and Buchanan on back-to-back possessions capped a 13-6 UAA run and put the Seawolves up 82-75 with 2:24 left.

"It was just a really fun game, and those are the games you want to play in," Burns said. "When there was like 10 minutes or something to go, I was like, 'This is fun and I don't want this to end.' "

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

SEATTLE PACIFIC (82) — Benson 8-18 3-5 21; Ohlsen 6-14 0-0 13; Callen 2-8 4-4 10; Murray 1-2 5-6 10; Barnes 5-8 3-4 14; Teng 0-0 2-2 2; Lasconia 2-3 0-0 4; Pflaumer 2-3 0-0 4; Stephens 1-1 0-0 2; Butler 2-3 0-1 4; Totals — 29-60 17-22 82.

UAA (93) — Horn 5-12 6-6 16; Buchanan 5-7 0-0 14; King 8-22 6-8 25; Madison 3-6 0-0 6; Burns 6-12 8-10 2; Hutchins 1-1 0-0 3; Martin 1-2 4-4 7; Totals — 29-62 24-28 93.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 38 44 — 82

UAA 44 49 — 93

3-point field goals — SPU 7-24 (Benson 2-5; Ohlsen 1-7; Callen 2-6; Murray 1-2; Barnes 1-3; Lasconia 0-1); UAA 11-26 (Horn 0-2; Buchanan 4-5; King 3-7; Madison 0-3; Burns 2-6; Hutchins 1-1; Martin 1-2). Rebounds — SPU 37 (Murray 10); UAA 28 (Burns 8). Total Fouls — SPU 24; UAA 19. Fouled out — SPU (Callen); UAA (Horn, Buchanan). Assists — SPU 18 (Callen, 9); UAA 19 (King 9). Turnovers — SPU 23 (Ohlsen, 6); UAA 10 (Burns, 3). Blocks — SPU 1 (Lasconia); UAA 2 (Horn, Burns). Steals — SPU 4 (four with one); UAA 12 (King; Madison, 3).

Officials — Lujan, Leitch, Vanni. A — 568

By JEREMY PETERS

jpeters@adn.com

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