UAA Athletics

Propelled by 2nd-half comeback and OT treys, UAA women triumph

The sixth-ranked Seawolves survived an overtime thriller Thursday night in Portland, using a strong second half from Shelby Cloninger to edge Concordia-Portland 73-69.

The victory kept the UAA women's basketball team in first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Seawolves (21-2 overall, 14-1 GNAC) lead Northwest Nazarene by one game with five games left in the regular season.

Cloninger scored all 15 of her points after halftime, including a 3-pointer in overtime that helped UAA take the lead in the extra period.

Hannah Wandersee provided 14 points and seven rebounds, Rodericka Ware tallied 10 points and six rebounds and Yazmeen Goo was good for nine points, eight assists and four steals for the Seawolves.

"That was certainly a gut-check game," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said in a press release. "Concordia played us very well in Anchorage, so we knew they were not to be taken lightly — they just seem to match up and execute against us very well.

"That said, we really hurt ourselves with 20 turnovers and a lot of missed layups tonight. Luckily we got some timely jump-shooting late, especially those 3s in overtime by Rodericka and Shelby."

The teams battled to a 60-60 tie in regulation and were knotted 62-62 early in overtime before Ware and Cloninger sandwiched 3-pointers around a Concordia free throw to give UAA a 68-63 lead with two minutes to go.

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Concordia's Erin Higbie made it 68-65 with 1:50 left, and the Cavs got the ball right back on a turnover by Wandersee. Wandersee made up for the mistake by blocking Nikiyah LeSure in the paint, grabbing the rebound and drawing a foul with 64 seconds left.

The 6-1 center from Kodiak hit both free throws and Goo added another with seven seconds remaining to clinch the victory.

Concordia (12-11, 6-9) led 31-26 at halftime but UAA came back in the second half to grab a 49-40 lead. The Cavs battled back and forced overtime with Kizzah Maltezo's 15-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Maltezo finished with 13 points. Bailey Cartwright led the Cavs with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Danielle Hartzog added 15 points.

The Seawolves continues their road trip with a Saturday afternoon game against Western Oregon.

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