Big 4th quarter carries UAA women to another victory

The sixth-ranked UAA women’s basketball team collected its fifth-straight victory thanks to a huge fourth-quarter comeback Friday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Hannah Wandersee and Syd Stallworth pumped in six points apiece in the final quarter to lift the Seawolves to a 66-56 win over Florida Tech in the first round of the DII Coast to Coast Classic. In the earlier game, Simon Fraser tripped Hawaii Pacific 82-67.

A crowd of 1,002 watched the Seawolves (5-0) erase a four-point deficit by outscoring Florida Tech 24-10 in the fourth quarter. They ended the game with a 14-3 run that included 10-of-14 shooting from the foul line in the final few minutes.

The game was UAA’s second straight without starting point guard Yazmeen Goo, who injured her hand last week. All the Seawolves did in her absence Friday was record assists on 22 of 24 field goals, an effort that included six assists from Sala Langi and four apiece from Stallworth, Kian McNair and Tara Thompson.

"This was another excellent test for us tonight as we learn to adjust to being a more grind-it-out team,” UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said in a release from the school. “Getting a win like that proves to our ladies that we can handle adversity and be the team that makes big plays in crunch time.”

Wandersee, a senior center from Kodiak, led UAA with five blocks, nine rebounds and 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Her play was pivotal at the start of the fourth quarter, which started with Florida Tech (2-3) holding a 46-42 lead. She dished an assist to Yasin Safiyyah and blocked a shot that led to Jahnna Hajdukovich’s basket that tied the game, 46-46.

Florida Tech took its last lead, 53-52, with about six minutes left. Back-to-back buckets by Thompson and Tennae Voliva -- both of Anchorage -- put UAA ahead 56-52 with less than four minutes ago, and from there the Seawolves sealed the victory at the foul line. Stallworth, who handed out three assists in the fourth quarter, sank 6 of 8 shots to lead the effort.

Stallworth finished with 13 points, Thompson had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, Langi racked up six assists, five points and four rebounds in 18 minutes, and McNair had six points, four steals and four assists.

Tereza Sedlakova turned in 14 points and seven rebounds and Grace Doane came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points for Florida Tech.

UAA returns to the Alaska Airlines Center at 5 p.m. Saturday for a game against Hawaii Pacific. Florida Tech and Simon Fraser will meet at 2:30 p.m.