Players continue to hit new heights for the sixth-ranked UAA women's basketball team, which fended off Western Washington 64-54 Sunday in Bellingham, Washington.
Two Seawolves turned in career-high performances in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.
Yazmeen Goo, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, racked up career bests of seven steals and 14 points, and Shelby Cloninger, a 6-foot senior forward, grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds while posting the first double-double of her career.
Cloninger has been on fire since the Seawolves reassembled after the holiday break. On Friday, she scored a career-high 26 points in a win over a tough Simon Fraser team.
UAA (12-1 overall, 5-0 GNAC) led for nearly the entire game. Western Washington (6-6, 2-2) forged a one-point lead midway through the second quarter, but a steal and layup by Kian McNair put the Seawolves in the lead for good, 34-32, less than two minutes before halftime.
The Vikings cut the gap to five points halfway through the fourth quarter but Kaitlyn Hurley responded for UAA with a 3-pointer to make it 58-50.
Hurley finished with 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting, including 2 of 3 behind the arc.
Goo accounted for nearly half of UAA's 16 steals. Cloninger added four and McNair had three to go with four assists, five rebounds and five points.
UAA made up for a 33.3 percent shooting performance with strong rebounding and solid free throw shooting.
The Seawolves hit 16 of its 20 free throws, with Cloninger sinking all eight of hers and Goo making six of eight.
And they dominated the boards 46-32, getting half of their rebounds on the offensive end, including five apiece by Cloninger and Hannah Wandersee.
"We did an excellent job on the boards tonight and really limited Western's opportunities for easy baskets," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said in a press release from the school. "Kian and Yazmeen did a great job of pressuring their guards, and our 23 offensive rebounds helped us overcome a poor shooting performance."