Simon Fraser stuns No. 2 UAA in West Region basketball semifinals

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UAA guard Kiki Robertson shows disappointment after the final horn as the Simon Fraser Clan celebrate. UAA women’s basketball was defeated by Simon Fraser, 80-70, in the second round of the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships on March 11, 2017. (Marc Lester / Alaska Dispatch News)

The dream season for the UAA women's basketball team ended Saturday at the hands of streaking, hot-shooting Simon Fraser.

The Seawolves, ranked second in the nation and last season's national runner-up, finished the season with a 30-2 record.

"Of any group I've ever coached, I'm as proud of this group as I've ever been," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said. "… (These are) special ladies and I know they'll all be very successful after they lay their jerseys down here in a couple minutes."

An eight-point UAA lead at halftime quickly crumbled in the third quarter when the Clan soared past the Seawolves and went on to take an 80-70 upset victory in the West Region tournament semifinals at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Clan started the second half with a 20-2 run that gave them a 45-37 lead with 2½ minutes to go in the third quarter. They dismantled UAA's normally top-notch defense.

A 3-pointer from guard Tayler Drynan two minutes later put the Clan up by double figures heading into the fourth quarter and the momentum never swung back to the Seawolves.

"As the game went on, I thought if we got a little bit of momentum, the game would get a little tighter for them because there's more pressure on them to have to perform," Simon Fraser coach Bruce Langford said. "(At halftime), we talked about how there was no pressure on us, because nobody expected us to win."

The Clan (26-7) drained 10 of 24 shots from beyond the arc and garnered 3s from five players. They shot 45.6 percent from the field and scored more points against the Seawolves than any other team this season.

"I think for us to win games, we need to be shooting the 3-ball well," said Clan senior Ellen Kett, who scored 14 points and dished six assists. "Sometimes we live and die by the 3 a bit too much, but if those 3-pointers are dropping, we're going to have an easier time."

The game was physical on both sides, with a combined 43 fouls between the teams. Five consecutive offensive fouls were called in a two-minute span in the fourth quarter.

"I thought it was a very physical contest," Langford said. "I thought at times if felt a little rugby-ish."

McCarthy said UAA switched to a man-to-man defense to try to slow Simon Fraser, but that just made things worse.

"They're a great shooting team and you've gotta give them a lot of credit," McCarthy said. "That's definitely something we talked about that we wanted to control, and we went man and that didn't do us any favors either.

"I think offensively we just got tight and I think that was ultimately our demise in this game. We didn't play with that freedom that we normally do. There wasn't much flow offensively for us."

The Seawolves shot 42.2 percent from the field, but 22.2 percent from 3-point land and 54.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Senior forward Autummn Williams led UAA with 18 points, 12 coming in the second half, and junior forward Shelby Cloninger added 16 in 17 minutes.

Sophomore forward Hannah Wandersee supplied 14 points, seven rebounds and five blocks.

Kett, Drynan (11 points, 3 of 3 from 3) and Sophie Swant (18 points), powered the Clan, which beat the Seawolves for the first time in three tries this season.

UAA and Simon Fraser both played in the Great Northwest Conference. UAA won the regular-season series.

It was the third time the Clan have defeated the Seawolves at the Alaska Airlines Center since McCarthy took over the program in 2012. The first time came in McCarthy's first season and the second time came on UAA's Senior Night last season.

UAA lost seven seniors from last season's team but remained a powerhouse. This season's team will lose three seniors — Williams, Kiki Robertson and Alysha Devine — and junior Sierra Afoa, who is giving up her final season of eligibility to focus on her career.

"(C)oming in day one, we didn't know what to expect," Afoa said. "New kids, it definitely was difficult to get everyone the same page. But, I'm a type of person who can't be around people a lot and this team — I don't want to see the last day that I spend with them. It's a special group and I am so happy I got to spend (the season) with them."

Simon Fraser will face third-ranked Cal Baptist in the West Region championship on Monday at the Alaska Airlines Center at 7 p.m..

Cal Baptist advanced with a 80-68 win over Western Washington.

The Lancers (33-2) of the PacWest Conference used a dominating presence inside to outrebound the Vikings 44-30 and outscore them in the paint 48-28.

Guard Courtney Nelson racked up 22 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the field, and guard Kamille Diaz and forward Tori Mitchell each tallied 13 points. Mitchell also pulled down 10 rebounds.

Western Washington (26-6) was led by Tia Briggs (29 points) and GNAC Player of the Year Taylor Peacocke (25).