Avoid the temptation to call UAA's first-round Shootout victory over Yale an upset.
Yes, UAA is a Division II team and Yale is a Division I team. But in their 72-63 GCI Great Alaska Shootout win Tuesday in front of a lively Alaska Airlines Center crowd, the Seawolves dominated with superior speed and athleticism.
Megan Mullings racked up 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, KeKe Wright contributed 12 points and nine rebounds and point guard Kiki Robertson dazzled with eight points, eight assists, seven rebounds and five steals to lead the undefeated Seawolves to their fifth straight victory.
The win puts UAA in Wednesday's 5 p.m. championship game against Long Beach State. It will be the eighth title game time in nine years for the Seawolves, who will try to earn their seventh Shootout title since 1980 and their fifth since 2006. At this point, it's an upset if the Seawolves aren't in the championship game.
So was it an upset?
"Technically, on paper," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said. "But our team believes they can win every game, and that's what makes them so special."
If anything, said Yale coach Chris Gobrecht, the Bulldogs were the underdogs. Ivy League schools don't award athletic scholarships and, maybe more significantly at this time of the season, they are limited by league rules to 24 preseason practices. Other schools get 30.
"It's not unusual for Ivy League teams to be slow coming out of the blocks," Gobrecht said.
UAA couldn't have asked for a better way to start the game, forcing seven turnovers while racing to an 11-0 lead.
The Seawolves won the tipoff and seconds later Leah Bonner scored an uncontested layup. Then UAA's full-court press made it impossible for Yale to get the ball past midcourt fast enough to avoid a 10-second violation. Jenna Buchanan capitalized by banking in a shot for UAA.
That was the first of three straight Yale turnovers, which went nearly 3.5 minutes before getting off a shot and nearly five minutes before scoring.
"Clearly my team didn't hear the message (that) this was a good basketball team," Gobrecht said of her team's slow start.
McCarthy was relieved that his team made such a good first impression.
"That was our first good start of the season, so I was very pleased with the way we came out and executed," he said. "I was 50-50 on whether they'd come out too amped up, or just kill it like we did."
An 8-0 run pushed UAA's lead to 27-11 with 7 minutes, 19 seconds remaining in the first half. Between poor shooting by Yale and a UAA defense that applied constant pressure on point-guard Sarah Halejian and the rest of the Bulldogs, the game had the look of a rout in the making.
Then Yale's shots started falling.
The Bulldogs were 3 of 15 through the first 7:19 but were 8 of 13 the rest of the way to make it a game. Katie Werner, a 6-1 sophomore, hit all five of her shots, four of them in the final seven minutes. Her 13 first-half points helped Yale trim UAA's lead to seven points at the break, 38-31.
Yale stuck around for the first 10 minutes of the second half, using a 6-0 run to cut UAA's lead to 49-45.
But the Seawolves answered with 12 straight points, a run that included two spectacular layups from freshman Adriana Dent, who soared high in the air and showed a light touch on her back-to-back buckets.
Dent's shots electrified an announced crowd of 2,643. UAA's new arena seats 5,000 and although the stands didn't look half full, it is a far better venue for basketball than Sullivan Arena, which hosted the Shootout for most of its first 36 years.
The arena's seats are close to the court and they are set on a steep pitch, creating an intimate atmosphere. Sullivan feels empty with a crowd of 2,000, but 2,000 at the Alaska Airlines Center feels energizing.
And so it was that when even when Yale made its second-half run, the Seawolves -- backed by their crowd -- never wilted.
"Basketball is a game of runs," McCarthy said, "so I wasn't really too worried."
Seven players scored seven or more points and five had five or more rebounds for UAA. The Seawolves dressed just 10 players -- three fewer than Yale -- because Alysha Devine is injured and wearing a walking boot. Four others are red-shirting this season.
Yale showed good depth, getting points from nine players. Werner, who was held to two free throws in the second half, scored a game-high 15 points and Halejian netted 14 to go with nine assists.
Yale will try to bounce back Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. against Boise State.
YALE (63) – Werner 5 4-4 15, Berkowitz 1 2-2 4, Halejian 4 6-8 14, Wyckoff 0 2-2 2, Santucci 2 0-0 5, Sarju 1 0-0 3, Simpson 2 0-0 4, Munzer 2 2-2 7, Boardman 4 1-3 9. Totals 21 17-21 63.
UAA (72) – Mullings 4 5-6 13, Bonner 4 0-2 9, A. Madison 4 2-2 10, Buchanan 3 0-0 10, Robertson 3 2-2 8, Dent 2 1-2 5, Wright 3 6-11 12, J. Madison 2 2-2 8. Totals 25 18-27 72.
Yale 31 32 -- 63
UAA 38 34 -- 72
3-point goals – Yale 4-28 (Werner 1-1, Berkowitz 0-1, Halejian 0-4, Wyckoff 0-2, Santucci 1-6, Sarju 1-4, Simpson 0-2, Munzer 1-8); UAA 4-12 (J. Madison 2-8, Bonner 1-2, Buchanan 1-1, Dent 0-1). Rebounds – Yale 38 (Boardman 8); UAA 44 (Wright 9). Total fouls – Yale 20; UAA 21. Fouled out – none. Assists – Yale 15 (Halejian 9); UAA 14 (Robertson 8). Turnovers – Yale 20 (Halejian 5); UAA 23 (Bonner 6). Blocks – Yale 5 (Berkowitz 2, Boardman 2); UAA 5 (Mullings 4). Steals – Yale 6 (Munzer 2); UAA 9 (Robertson 5). Attendance – 2,643. Officials – Graham, McNew, Leitch.