Alaska News

UAA women win sixth straight

Wearing glittered T-shirts that read "Super Senior" on the front, UAA's Sasha King, Jordan Martin and Alysa Horn were honored in a pre-game Senior Night ceremony Saturday at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

After receiving flowers and hugs, the trio proceeded to help the women's basketball team to a 61-41 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win over Western Oregon.

UAA (16-9, 10-7 GNAC) has now won six straight games and 19 straight in the series with Western Oregon, which has dropped six of its last seven.

Thanks to a Montana State-Billings loss to Seattle Pacific on Saturday, UAA moved into fourth place in the conference standings.

Horn led the charge with her third straight double-double, posting 20 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Her defense, which included three blocked shots and three steals, elicited cheers from the fans.

Junior Kylie Burns was busy in the post, racking up 12 points and eight rebounds, and freshman Jessica Madison showed off some nice ball-handling skills on her way to 11 points.

King and Martin each finished with five points, with King adding five steals and Martin getting five rebounds.

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Led by 11 points from Mariah Durian, seven players scored for Western Oregon (8-18, 3-12), including Eagle River's Lorrie Clifford (two points).

The Wolves hung tough with the Seawolves in the early going of a defensive battle that produced 21 turnovers from each team, but UAA never trailed.

Horn delivered one of the game's top highlights when she chased down a Western Oregon fast break to block a shot and preserve an early 7-2 lead. She also gave the Seawolves their first double-digit lead, putting them up 25-15 on a wide-open layup with less than three minutes left in the first half. Western Oregon scored two unanswered baskets to trail 25-19 at intermission.

A 3-pointer by Martin put UAA up 31-19 with 17:10 to play, and freshman Jenna Buchanan (seven points) dropped in a layup just before the midway point of the second half to give UAA its biggest lead at 47-26.

Horn, King and Martin have all played big leadership roles this season, first-year coach Ryan McCarthy said, helping him to install a new system with a team that includes six underclassmen.

"Everyone will remember certain teams for certain things, but everyone always remembers the first team to kind of lay down the foundation," McCarthy said. "I think that's been something really special for the seniors, that they had a chance to really set the foundation for what this program will look like in the future."

UAA will play its final regular season game in Fairbanks on Saturday against UAF. The Seawolves will then play in the GNAC tournament, which begins March 6.

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

WESTERN OREGON (41) -- Fowler 2-8 0-2 4; Goularte 1-10 1-4 3; Clifford 1-5 0-1 2; Divilbiss 3-9 0-1 8; Reade 2-3 0-0 4; Goddard 0-0 0-0 0; Henry 4-6 1-1 9; Durian 5-13 0-0 11; Ridriguez 0-1 0-0 0. Totals -- 18-55 2-9 41.

UAA (61) -- Horn 6-18 8-10 20; Burns 4-8 3-3 12; King 2-9 0-0 5; Martin 2-4 0-0 5; Madison 4-8 2-2 11; Brewster 0-0 1-2 1; Hutchins 0-1 0-0 0; Buchanan 3-6 0-0 7; Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -- 21-54 14-17 61.

WOU 19 22 -- 41

UAA 25 36 -- 61

3-point field goals -- WOU 3-13 (Clifford 0-3; Divilbiss 2-5; Durian 1-5); UAA 5-21 (Horn 0-3; Burns 1-2; King 1-7; Martin 1-2; Madison 1-2; Hutchins 0-1; Buchanan 1-4). Rebounds -- WOU 32 (Divilbiss 7); UAA 44 (Horn 16). Total Fouls -- WOU 14; UAA 12. Assists -- WOU 11 (Goularte 4); UAA 17 (Burns 6); Turnovers -- WOU 21 (Divilbiss 6); UAA 21 (King, Horn 6); Blocks -- WOU 3 (three with 3); UAA 5 (Horn 3). Steals -- WOU 9 (Goularte 3); UAA 11 (King 5). Officials -- Lujan, Gillen, Landro. A -- 583.

By JEREMY PETERS

jpeters@adn.com

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