The UAA women's team gave basketball fans plenty to cheer about on Tuesday's opening night of the Carrs-Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.
The biggest cheers came at the end, as the crowd counted down the closing seconds of an 83-75 double-overtime victory over UC Riverside, a win that involved erasing a 14-point halftime deficit at Sullivan Arena.
The Seawolves (5-0) made just 8 of 38 shots in the first half, but settled down in the second half and used pressure defense and fast-break points to spark a comeback.
"Fourteen points isn't an eternity in basketball, especially with our up-tempo game," said UAA coach Ryan McCarthy. "We just told the players we were gonna chip away at (the lead) every four minutes and try and create small victories in that second half, and they really responded."
Kylie Burns put UAA on the path to victory by scoring the first four points in the second overtime to forge a 75-71 lead. A layup from Kiki Robertson put UAA up 77-73 with less than three minutes to play and the Seawolves closed the game out from the free-throw line.
Riverside (2-3) found themselves in foul trouble late and McCarthy said it helped create am advantage for UAA down the stretch. Riverside's top scorer Brittany Crain fouled out near the end of regulation, followed by Natasha Hadley and Simone DeCoud fouling out in the overtime periods, but Riverside coach John Margaritis didn't blame the loss on fouls.
"I think that the better team won tonight," he said. "They pressed the boards, they beat us from point A to point B, they hit threes."
Riverside didn't hit any 3-pointers, missing all 14 attempts and Margaritis said he couldn't remember the last time that happened.
Robertson led the Seawolves with 20 points, eight rebounds seven steals and five assists. Alli Madison finished with 17 points, Burns hit for 15 and Jessica Madison deposited 13.
Three Riverside players turned in double-doubles, led by a 22-points, 13-rebound performance from Jamila Williams. Annelise Ito scored 19 points and hauled in 16 rebounds, and Decoud compiled 18 points and 12 rebounds.
The win puts the Seawolves in the Shootout title game for the second straight year. They will face Georgetown at 5 p.m., Wednesday. The Hoyas reached the title game with a win earlier Tuesday over Nicholls State.
"The Shootout is such a special event and our ladies were just really excited to play in it," McCarthy said. "We're very excited to face Georgetown. They're young and so are we, so it might get a little crazy."
Reach Jeremy Peters at jpeters@adn.com or 257-4335.
RIVERSIDE (75) -- Harewood 0-3 0-0 0, Wallace 0-3 0-0 0, Hadley 2-9 0-1 4, Ito 8-17 3-4 19, Crain 5-16 2-3 12, Martin 0-4 0-0 0, DeCoud 6-14 6-7 18, Williams 9-18 4-6 22, Nyingifa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-84 15-21 75.
UAA (83) -- A. Madison 5-20 6-12 17, Wright 2-6 1-2 5, Burns 5-17 4-5 15, Robertson 6-15 7-11 20, J. Madison 4-8 3-6 13, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Hutchins 0-1 0-0 0, Buchanan 3-7 0-0 8, Devine 0-5 2-2 2, Craft 1-6 1-2 3. Totals 26-86 24-40 83.
Riverside 37 27 7 \t4 -- 75
UAA 23 41 7 12 -- 83
3-point goals -- Riverside 0-14 (Wallace 0-2, Ito 0-1, Crain 0-3, Martin 0-4, DeCoud 0-4), UAA 7-26 (A. Madison 1-6, Burns 1-6, Robertson 1-4, J. Madison 2-4, Hutchins 0-1, Buchanan 2-4, Devine 0-1). Rebounds -- Riverside 63 (Crain 16), UAA 59 (A. Madison 12). Total fouls -- Riverside 26, UAA 21. Fouled out -- Crain, Hadley, DeCoud. Technical foul -- Riverside team. Assists -- Riverside 19 (DeCoud 9), UAA 15 (Robertson 5). Turnovers -- Riverside 27 (Ito 5), UAA 18 (Burns 5). Steals -- Riverside 9 (DeCoud 4), UAA 17 (Robertson 7). Blocks -- Riverside 14 (Williams 4), UAA 4. Officials -- Blue, Butler, Lujan.
Anchorage