After a three-game stretch that included two losses and a two-point victory, the UAA women's basketball team got back into the win column Saturday afternoon against a UAF team that refused to roll over.
Using what seemed like a limitless supply of talent, the Seawolves wore down the Nanooks 78-56 in front of a subdued Alaska Airlines Center crowd of 533.
Jessica Madison's 17 points led a UAA bench that was good for 33 points and a whole bunch of minutes, a display of depth that kept UAF's eight-player team breathless for much of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.
The Seawolves (13-1 overall, 2-1 GNAC), the sixth-ranked team in Division II, seldom shined – witness their 21 turnovers, 20 fouls and 35 percent shooting in the first half.
And UAF's unexpected zone defense and overall scrappiness served as speed bumps that kept the Seawolves from turning the game into a track meet, as is their custom.
"We really wanted to make them work for every shot, and we did," UAF coach Cody Bench said. "They're just so good."
The Seawolves were especially good in the final 2:40, when they stretched a 14-point lead into the final 22-point margin. Down the stretch they got five points from Madison and six from Megan Mullings, the team's leading scorer who was limited to six points through the first three quarters.
"A win's a win. We will take that over a loss, for sure," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said. "Finals week was hard on our ladies – we hold them to a high (academic) standard – and it showed a little bit tonight.
"I was proud of them for taking the last two or three minutes of the game and finishing with some momentum."
Madison was 6 of 12 to lead a UAA shooting effort that improved from 11 of 31 in the first half (35.5 percent) to 17 of 33 in the second half (51.5 percent).
In the week leading up to the game, Madison, a senior guard, stayed busy with four finals – as well as extra time in the gym to make up for sub-par shooting in her two previous games.
"You want to do well at school, but you also want to show up at practice," said Madison, talking about balancing a week's worth of tests with preparation for a game against her team's in-state rival.
"I focused on getting extra shots up, to try to get better."
In its three previous games, UAA lost to Western Washington, beat Simon Fraser by two points and lost to Western Kentucky in a Great Alaska Shootout championship game that was an exhibition that doesn't count on its record.
The Seawolves got back on track by building a healthy early lead. They held the Nanooks to three points during a seven-minute stretch at the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter that turned a 6-4 deficit into a 23-9 lead. They forced eight UAF turnovers and got 3-pointers from Madison, Jenna Buchanan and Christina Davis during the sustained run.
When redshirt freshman Tara Thompson netted a 30-footer at the buzzer for a 34-15 halftime lead, it appeared the rout was on.
But the Nanooks looked revitalized after the break and dominated the third quarter – not just by outscoring UAA 21-15, but by playing with more energy.
Jaylee Mays hit a couple of big shots and scored 10 of her game-high 21 points to help UAF trim UAA's lead to 49-36 entering the fourth quarter. Mays, Autumn Childers (9 points, 7 assists), Jordon Wilson (13 points, 3 blocks, 3 steals, 2 assists) and Kaillee Skjold (9 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals) all provided big second-half plays for the Nanooks.
"We shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers. We'd sprint back to make up for mistakes, and that drains you," McCarthy said. "They controlled the pace."
The big shot pretty much eluded UAA until the end. Then the Seawolves got a couple, including one from Buchanan. After missing a 3-pointer on the previous possession, she drained her next long-range attempt to extend UAA's lead to 15 with four minutes left.
Mullings came through with a big shot too. It came after a weird sequence that could have led to seven points for UAF but was worth four instead – and was followed by a traditional three-point play by Mullings.
With 1:52 left, Mays hit the last of her five 3-pointers while Wilson drew a foul with the ball in the air, earning a trip to the foul line for two free throws. Wilson made the first, missed the second, and UAF got the rebound.
Mays missed a 3-pointer and UAA's Kiki Robertson (5 assists, 4 points, 4 rebounds in 18 foul-plagued minutes) grabbed the rebound. She got the ball to Mullings, who outbattled two defenders for a bucket and a foul that sent her to the line for one more point.
Mullings got eight of her 14 points in the final quarter to give UAA four scorers in double figures. Keiahnna Engel was UAA's most reliable scorer with 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting, and she added six rebounds and two assists in just 19 minutes. Buchanan did a lot of everything (15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals), and although Adriana Dent didn't score a point, she was a difference-maker with six rebounds, five steals, a block and an assist.
The Nanooks were playing their first game without 6-1 senior center Stephanie Toumson, who was averaging nearly a double-double (15.2 points, 9.4 rebounds) before going down with a knee injury.
"I'm proud of our effort," Bench said. "This is as hard as I've seen them play in a couple of games."