UAA women flatten Nanooks with balanced effort

The eighth-ranked UAA women's basketball team dominated the rival Nanooks despite poor shooting Tuesday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves rolled past UAF 63-46 thanks to strong rebounding and opportunistic defense that allowed them to overcome 33.8 percent shooting.

All 10 players grabbed at least one rebound and all 10 made at least one steal. The Seawolves outrebounded UAF 44-33, and they stole the ball 17 times.

UAA led from start to finish to improve to 19-2 overall and 12-1 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Shelby Cloninger drained three of four 3-point attempts to lead the balanced effort with 15 points, six rebounds and two steals. Hannah Wandersee had 15 points, five rebounds and one steal, and Rodericka Ware came off the bench to chip in 12 points and five assists.

Kian McNair added five rebounds, four assists, two steals and Tara Thompson and Kaitlyn Hurley each pulled down six rebounds for the Seawolves.

UAF (4-15, 0-13) got 16 points from Kylie Wallace and 10 from Lexi Carpenter. The Nanooks trailed by as many as 27 points midway through the third quarter but outscored UAA 25-15 after that.

"I was extremely disappointed with both our effort and our execution (in) the second half," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said in a press release. "I thought we lacked focus and got outplayed by a team that wanted it more. If we give that same performance on Thursday against Billings, it will be a long night for us."