Anchorage Daily News

Slide over, Linda Bruns, and make room for Tim Moser.

Moser put his name atop the UAA's single-season coaching wins list Saturday night, guiding the ninth-ranked Seawolves women's basketball team to a 65-53 victory over Western Washington at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

It was the 25th victory of the season for UAA, breaking the previous school record for most wins of 24 set by Bruns' 1987-88 squad.

In typical Moser fashion, he passed the credit to his players. But there's no denying the impact the second-year coach has had on the program.

UAA had six straight losing seasons before Moser arrived. Since then, he's won 48 of 57 games and guided the Seawolves into the postseason in each of his two seasons.

"As a coaching staff, we are going to take some pride in that," Moser said by cell phone, referring to the record.

"We're fortunate to get a lot of winners in here. I'm proud of it. I'm gonna tell you, it says that we're on the right track to try and win this conference."

Nothing is official on the playoffs until March 9, but at 25-3 overall and 14-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (ranked fourth in the West Region), the Seawolves are a lock to make it.

Junior All-American Rebecca Kielpinski showed that she's ready for the postseason by delivering an effort every bit as good as the numbers with team highs in points (18), rebounds (10), assists (5), steals (3) and blocked shots (2).

"She was the one kid that really came to play," Moser said. "She did a great job of taking over.

"It started from the beginning. I think she got her shot blocked the first time and I think that pissed her off. She went at 'em and proved she's the best player in this league."

Ruby Williams came off the bench to deliver a dozen points and Maria Nilsson collected 10 points and six assists for UAA, which pulled away in the second half to prevail before nearly 700 fans on senior night.

Nilsson was one of four seniors making their final home appearance, joining Kalhie Quinones, Jennifer Salazar and Erin Cunningham.

Three of them -- Nilsson, Salazar, and Cunningham -- finished their two-year careers with an overall home record of 32-1, including a pair Great Alaska Shootout titles. The fourth senior, first-year transfer Quinones, finished with nine points, three steals and a pair of assists in her final performance on campus.

"This group of four has done a tremendous job," Moser said.

Behind Kielpinski's double-figure rebounding total and strong board work from guards Elisha Harris (seven) and Nilsson (six), UAA won the rebounding battle 40-31.

Kielpinski -- the reigning GNAC player of the year -- made 7 of 14 shots from the field and sank 4 of 5 from the free-throw line.

Yet, Moser thought she could have done more and blamed himself, his assistants and his players for not feeding her the ball even more.

"I don't think as a team we got her the ball enough," Moser said. "She should have had more shots, the ball should have touched her hands every possession. She was rolling."

UAA will wrap up the regular season on the road this week, traveling to Seattle University on Thursday and Montana State-Billings on Saturday.

And even though the Seawolves won't likely win the conference title -- trailing first-place and undefeated Seattle Pacific by two games with two to play -- they will be in the hunt for something bigger once the playoffs begin.

"We want to win a national championship," Moser said. "I learned a long time ago, forget the little things. We gotta shoot for big things. That's what we're trying to do."

Find assistant sports editor Van Williams online at adn.com/contact/vwilliams or call 257-4335.

Western Washington 25 28 -- 53

UAA 30 35 -- 65

Western Washington -- Dunbar 7-15 0-0 19; Pallansch 5-16 1-2 11; Wade 4-8 0-0 8; Hefflin 2-4 2-4 6; Schramm 1-5 3-3 5; Holgate 1-3 2-4 4; Moehrle 0-1 0-0 0; Soo 0-1 0-0 0; McBride 0-0 0-1 0; Lersch 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 8-14 53.

UAA -- Kielpinski 7-14 4-5 18; Williams 5-9 2-2 12; Nilsson 4-10 0-0 10; Quinones 3-10 2-4 9; Harris 2-7 2-3 7; Dekel 2-3 0-0 4; Basova 1-3 0-0 2; Parks 1-1 0-0 2; Salazar 0-2 1-2 1; Aden 0-0 0-0 0; Thompson 0-0 0-0 0; Cunningham 0-0 0-0 0; Pelleg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 11-16 65.

3-point goals -- Western Washington 5-15 (Dunbar 5-9; Pallansch 0-1; Schramm 0-3; Moehrle 0-1; Soo 0-1), UAA 4-16 (Nilsson 2-8; Harris 1-2; Quinones 1-3; Basova 0-2; Dekel 0-1). Fouled out -- Western Washington-None, UAA-None. Rebounds -- Western Washington 31 (Pallansch 6; Holgate 6), UAA 40 (Kielpinski 10). Assists -- Western Washington 13 (Wade 4), UAA 17 (Kielpinski 5). Total fouls -- Western Washington 19, UAA 15. Technical fouls --Western Washington-None, UAA-None. A -- 676.

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