Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play

ANCHORAGE – Until the final minutes, the Seattle Pacific Falcons were never far behind against Alaska Anchorage.
 
They just could never quite get ahead.
 
Katie Benson had 26 points and 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year, but Alaska Anchorage, thanks in part to 18 second-chance points, led Saturday night's Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball contest from wire to wire in handing the No. 6-ranked Falcons their first loss of the year, 77-65.
 
SPU (7-1, 1-1 GNAC) had been off to its best start since the 2007-08 season by winning its first seven games of the season.
 




"We just have to use this opportunity to move forward," Falcons head coach Julie Heisey said. "I've been 29-0 and lost. If we're going to lose, I'd rather lose now and find out how to get better. It's December, we're going to face this team again in February, and there's a lot of time between now and then."
 
Added redshirt junior guard Betsy Kingma, "I would have liked to be 8-0, but that's kind of where my mind is right now. In reality, we've had a great start and have won some really big games and some really close games. Our heads are going to be replaying this loss until we get another win. But it has been a very nice start to the season and hopefully, even better things to come."
 
Senior forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) hit 10 of 20 from the field, and also had four assists, three steals, and one blocked shot in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
 
Sophomore guard Brianna Lasconia (Seattle / Shorecrest HS), in her first-ever start, added 11 points. Junior guard Suzanna Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) and junior guard Betsy Kingma (Bellevue, Wash. / Newport HS) each chipped in 10.
 
Alaska Anchorage (7-1, 2-0 GNAC), picked for just a sixth-place finish in the GNAC preseason coaches poll, completed a week in which it routed conference preseason favorite Montana State Billings on Thursday, 90-59, before beating Seattle Pacific on Saturday.
 
Alli Madion led UAA with 21 points. Emily Craft came off the bench for a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Saturday's game concluded a stretch of six away games out of the first eight for SPU. The Falcons have three more games prior to Christmas, the first of which is next Saturday's 7 p.m. exhibition in Brougham Pavilion against Warner Pacific of Portland.
 




Although the Seawolves had led by as many as 11 during the first half, SPU kept climbing back within striking distance, and was down by just seven points at the intermission, 37-30.
 
The second half was more of the same back-and-forth play. The Falcons got within three at 39-36; UAA pushed it to eight at 46-38. It was down to three again at 52-49, then back up to seven at 56-49.
 
Seattle Pacific twice narrowed it to two: 56-54 on a putback from the left of the hoop by Benson with 9:46 left, then 60-58 on another Benson bucket with 5:35 still showing.
 
But that was as close as the Falcons came. They missed their next eight shots and went scoreless for 4 minutes, 20 seconds. Anchorage ran off 14 straight points for a 74-58 lead before Benson converted a traditional three-point play with just 1:15 remaining.
 
"We didn't score many points in the first half, but we made good adjustments and were able to catch up," Heisey said. "In the second half, we did a better job, got within two, got within four a couple times. At 3:17 (left), we were right there, but we had a turnover they scored on, and the momentum changed."
 
UAA had a 59-42 advantage on the boards, including 25 at the offensive end. The Seawolves also had 17 more tries at the foul line, hitting 25 of 32, while the Falcons were 13 of 15.
 
"We have to get better at boxing out, there's no question," Heisey said. "The other thing that I think was a difference-maker was they ran a different type of press. Even though we practiced against it, we just had a hard time finding our offensive rhythm in the first half."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Wells Fargo Sports Complex / Anchorage, Alaska
 
Alaska Anchorage 77, (No. 6) Seattle Pacific 65
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-1, 1-1 GNAC)
Maddey Pflaumer 3-6 1-1 7, Katie Benson 10-20 6-6 26, Suzanna Ohlsen 2-12 4-4 10, Brianne Lasconia 5-11 1-2 11, Betsy Kingma 5-15 0-0 10, Stacey Lukasiewicz 0-3 0-0 0, Molly Grager 0-0 1-2 1, Hannah Rodrigues 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-70 13-15 65.
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (7-1, 2-0 GNAC)
KeKe Wright 3-8 0-1 6, Kylie Burns 2-9 4-4 8, Alli Madison 5-14 11-12 21, Kiki Robertson 0-3 7-11 7, Jessica Madison 5-14 0-0 12, Christina Davis 0-2 1-2 1, Jenna Buchanan 4-8 0-0 10, Alysha Devine 0-4 2-2 2, Emily Craft 5-13 0-0 10. Totals 24-75 25-32 77.
 
Seattle Pacific                      30           35           -- 65
Alaska Anchorage               37           40           -- 77
 
3-point goals – SPU 2-24 (Benson 0-6, Ohlsen 2-6, Lasconia 0-2, Kingma 0-9, Rodrigues 0-1), UAA 4-20 (Burns 0-4, A. Madison 0-2, J. Madison 2-8, Buchanan 2-4, Devine 0-2. Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 42 (Benson 12), UAA 59 (Craft 13). Assists – SPU 17 (Ohlsen 6), UAA 15 (A. Madison 4, Robertson 4). Turnovers – SPU 17, UAA 11. Total fouls – SPU 21, UAA 17. Technical fouls – None. A – 590.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 7-1, 1-1 GNAC. Alaska Anchorage 7-1, 1-1 GNAC.
 
Next game – Warner Pacific at Seattle Pacific (exhibition), Saturday, Dec. 14, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.