UAA Athletics

22 steals propel UAA women to easy victory

The UAA women's basketball team stole a victory Friday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves swiped the ball 22 times en route to a 92-49 romp over Holy Names University, a Pac West Conference team from Oakland, California.

The victory kept the Seawolves undefeated in four games. They'll go for No. 5 Saturday against Western State, which outlasted UAF 49-41 Friday in the first game of the four-team, two-day Seawolf Hoops Classic.

UAA harassed Holy Names (0-4) into 32 turnovers against 20 of its own. Kian McNair led the way for UAA with six steals.

Rodericka Ware, a 5-foot-6 senior guard,  poured in a game-high 19 points for the Seawolves. She had five assists and four steals versus one turnover in 19 minutes of action.

Eleven players scored, 11 grabbed rebounds and 10 had steals for the Seawolves, the nation's fourth-ranked team in Division II.

"I was not entirely pleased with our (defensive) effort at times tonight, but our newcomers — especially Kian — are starting to come along well in our system and already making big contributions," said UAA coach Ryan McCarthy. "Sala (Langi) showed great hustle and did a lot of good things off the bench, too, and our veterans are showing solid leadership."

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UAA used a dominant second quarter to stretch a 17-15 first-quarter lead into a 39-25 halftime lead. The Seawolves sealed the win by outscoring the Hawks 33-7 in the fourth quarter.

Hannah Wandersee, a junior post, scored double figures for the fourth straight game. Along with 17 points, she supplied six rebounds and two blocks.

McNair, a junior guard, also reached double figures in scoring with 14 points.

UAA outrebounded the Hawks 49-31, with Shelby Cloninger and Langi each getting seven. The Seawolves shot 47.9 percent while holding Holy Names to 27.3 percent.

The Seawolves get their final test before next week's GCI Great Alaska Shootout when they face Western State at 5:15 p.m. Saturday. Holy Names will play UAF at 3 p.m.

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