In the aftermath of their championship-game victory Saturday at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball tournament, the UAA women huddled at center court to celebrate. They finished by lifting Kiki Robertson into the air.
It was a deserving tribute.
Robertson, a sophomore point guard from Hawaii, was a woman on a mission in UAA's 71-58 championship win over Western Washington at Alterowitz Gymnasium in Billings, Montana.
She was a force on offense and defense, scoring 21 points, dishing six assists, getting two steals and generally dictating the pace of the game. She was the easy choice for tournament MVP honors.
"Kiki just dominated," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said. "We got down, I think by about eight (points), and she just kept making plays on both ends to keep us in striking distance.
"... She came into this whole tournament with a chip on her shoulder after being selected second-team all-conference. I thought she was hands-down the best point guard in the league, and she proved why tonight."
One of the two guards who beat out Robertson for first-team GNAC honors is Western Washington senior Jenni White, who delivered 12 points and three assists and was not nearly the difference-maker Robertson was.
The Seawolves (29-1), the top-ranked Division II team in the country, scored the game's final 10 points to rack up their 17th straight win.
The Vikings (21-9) were on fire at the start, hitting 57 percent of their shots while building a 29-21 lead in the opening 13:30.
UAA closed the half with a 20-1 run for a 41-30 halftime lead. Robertson started the surge with a pair of free throws and then drove for a bucket on UAA's next possession.
The Seawolves scored on eight straight possessions during the run, making every shot they put up until Alli Madison missed a 3-pointer after stealing the ball with three seconds left. Jenna Buchanan drained three 3-pointers and Jessica Madison drilled one, and the remaining eight points came from Robertson.
Western Washington, playing its third game in four days, looked tired at the end of the first half but seemed refreshed after the break.
White scored five points in a 9-3 run that cut UAA's lead to five, 44-39, in the opening five minutes of the second half.
"They're too talented not to go on runs," McCarthy said of Western Washington. "They're (an NCAA) tournament-caliber team. Our ladies have gotten to the point where we've played a lot of good teams playing with a lot of extra motivation because we've got that target on our back. They know to weather the storm when that happens, stay the course and stick to the game plan."
UAA got rolling with a Megan Mullings steal that led to a Robertson jumper. Its lead grew to as many as 12 points, 59-47, before the Vikings mounted another comeback.
Western Washington's 11-2 run -- UAA's only points came on Robertson's pull-up jumper -- cut the lead to 61-58 with 4:42 left.
But 22 seconds later, Robertson sank a long-range basket -- one foot was inside the 3-point arc -- to trigger UAA's 10-0 game-ending run that sealed the victory.
A key moment in those final minutes came when UAA, holding onto a 63-58 lead, delivered a dagger. The Seawolves took a full minute off the clock with a possession that included two offensive rebounds by KeKe Wright and ended with a bucket -- by Robertson, of course -- that essentially ended things with 2:44 left.
After that, the Vikings misfired from 3-point range on their final four possessions and UAA collected the rebound every time.
UAA dominated the boards 39-27, with Wright snaring nine and Jessica Madison eight.
Robertson's 21 points came on 8 of 15 shooting from the field and 5 of 6 shooting from the foul line. Buchanan added 15 points on 5 of 11 shooting that included a 4 of 6 effort from 3-point range.
"She's gonna have a statue outside Galena," McCarthy said of Buchanan, a junior from the Interior Alaska town.
Mullings and Jessica Madison each scored nine points and Alli Madison had eight. Mullings, a 6-foot post limited to 21 minutes by foul trouble -- also had three steals and four rebounds.
Sydney Donaldson, one of four seniors for the Vikings, led her team with 14 points. Kayla Bernsen, another senior, had a team-high nine rebounds.
UAA will learn Sunday if it gets to host the West Region tournament. McCarthy thinks the Seawolves have earned the right to host the eight-team tournament, the winner of which advanced to Division II's Elite Eight.
"We've proved that we're No. 1," he said. "The ladies have earned that."
Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@alaskadispatch.com