The fourth-ranked UAA women's basketball team came crashing down Saturday in Seattle, where ice-cold shooting doomed the Seawolves against Seattle Pacific.
The Falcons handed UAA its first conference loss of the season, 66-48. UAA didn't score a single field goal in the fourth quarter of the bruising loss.
It was UAA's first Great Northwest Athletic Conference loss in nearly two years. The Seawolves (16-2 overall, 9-1 GNAC) had won 33 straight conference games since a one-point loss to Simon Fraser on Feb. 27, 2016.
The 18-point deficit was the team's most lopsided loss since a 27-point loss to Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 17, 2013.
"I give SPU a ton of credit for being the aggressor and taking us out of what we wanted to do offensively," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said in a press release. "At the same time, we need to be accountable for making a lot of simple errors that put us behind the 8-ball and cost us a chance to even be within striking distance late."
The Seawolves shot 26.4 percent (14 of 52) for the game and missed all 12 of their attempts from the field in the fourth quarter.
Seattle Pacific (14-3, 8-2) shot 40 percent, including 45 percent from 3-point range. Rachel Shim buried five of six long-range shots en route to a game-high 23 points.
Shim also grabbed eight rebounds to help her team crush UAA on the boards, 46-30.
Shelby Cloninger, who missed UAA's three previous games with an injury, led the Seawolves with 13 points and nine rebounds. Hannah Wandersee added 12 points and four rebounds.
Seattle Pacific led from start to finish to claims its fifth straight win. UAA trailed 47-42 after three quarters, but the Falcons pulled away by outscoring the Seawolves 19-6 in the final 10 minutes.
Saturday marked the end of the first half of the GNAC season. UAA owns a one-game lead over Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene heading into home games this week against Western Washington on Thursday and Simon Fraser on Saturday.
"We will regroup and be grateful that we have a one-game lead at the midpoint of the league season, and try to improve as we head down the homestretch," McCarthy said.