Box Score

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Going up against the No. 1-ranked team in the country is the wrong night to have a cold shooting spell.
 
It's an even worse night to have three of them.
 
Megan Mullings scored 20 points, and Alaska Anchorage, which ascended to the top spot among NCAA Division II women's basketball teams just this past Monday, went on three long scoring runs to beat Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game on Thursday night, 82-47.
 
"I was really proud of how we came out. I thought we did a lot of good things defensively, and we were attacking on offense," SPU coach Julie Heisey said. "But the bottom line is we have to find ways to score."
 
The Seawolves (21-1, 8-1 GNAC), who have won nine straight, had a 7-0 run in the first quarter to snap a 4-4 tie and go ahead for good. SPU went 0 of 5 during a stretch of 3 minutes, 9 seconds.
 
UAA then took command with 12 straight points in the second quarter as the Falcons went another 4:11 without scoring and missed their first nine field goal tries of the period. It was 43-27 at halftime.
                                                                                                                                   
When Seattle Pacific (6-10, 3-6 GNAC) showed some spark to get within 15 midway through the third quarter at 52-37, Anchorage put the next 20 points on the board. The Seawolves forced the Falcons into 14 misses and kept them scoreless for 8:01 spanning the last 5:23 of the third and first 2:38 of the fourth.
 
 "I think we had a lot of really good shots, but you could tell everything was a little too fast," said Heisey, whose team will try to snap a six-game losing streak when it visits Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Pacific time. "Because of the way Anchorage plays, they speed you up. I thought in the second half, we would settle down and get more into an offensive rhythm."

 

Sophomore forward Courtney Hollander (Lynden, Wash. / Lynden Christian HS) led the Falcons with 12 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Erica Pagano (Happy Valley, Ore.) scored a career-high eight points and tied her career high with five rebounds. Sophomore guard Jordan McPhee, averaging a team-high 12.8 points, sat out the game because of an injury.
 
This is the second time in 11 months that Alaska Anchorage has been ranked No. 1 when playing host to SPU. The first occasion was last Feb. 26, when the Seawolves used two double-digit scoring runs on the way to an 83-70 win.
 
"They're the No. 1 team in the nation on their home court, and we're trying to find ourselves and establish ourselves," Heisey said. "You make a mistake, and they're going to capitalize on it – one possession becomes three.
 
"They have a lot of depth, and they make you do things that you don't want to do."
 
Seattle Pacific was limited to 27.6 percent shooting from the field (16 of 58). The Seawolves, who got good looks at the basket most of night, hit 48.6 percent (35 of 72). Of their 76 points from the field, 56 were scored in the paint. They lead the GNAC in offense, averaging 84.5 point per game, and in defense, allowing just 53.7 coming into Thursday.
 
"In so many ways, we did a lot of good things tonight, but the score is not indicative of that," Heisey said. "We did a good job at the free throw line (10 of 14), we were finding each other up the court and finding the open person (15 assists on 16 baskets), and we out-rebounded them on the offensive boards (17-14).
                                                
"We just have to get back to staying in the moment and holding on to what we value," she added, "controlling the things we can on defense and rebounding, and doing the things we can do on offense."
 

NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
 
(No. 1) Alaska Anchorage 82, Seattle Pacific 47
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-10, 3-6 GNAC)
Stacey Lukasiewicz 2-9 2-4 6, Brianne Lasconia 2-7 1-2 6, Courtney Hollander 4-10 2-2 12, Molly Grager 1-8 0-0 2, Hannah Rodrigues 2-3 2-2 6, Riley Evans 0-2 0-0 0, Jaylee Albert 1-5 0-0 2, Julia Haining 1-4 0-0 2, Lindsay Lee 0-3 0-0 0, Erica Pagano 2-5 3-4 8, Carly Rataushk 1-2 0-0 2 Totals 16-58 10-14 47.
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (21-1, 8-1 GNAC)
Megan Mullings 7-11 6-7 20, Jenna Buchanan 4-8 0-0 9, Alysha Devine 5-7 0-0 12, Kiki Roberts 0-2 0-0 0, Jessica Madison 4-1 10-0 9, Adriana Dent 2-5 0-0 4, Tara Thompson 1-3 0-0 2, Christina Davis 3-7 0-0 7, Hannah Wandersee 1-4 0-0 2, Keiahnna Engel 6-7 0-0 13, Sierra Afoa 2-5 0-0 4, Dominique Brooks 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 35-72 6-7 82.
                        
Seattle Pacific                     10           17           10           10           -- 47
Alaska Anchorage             17           16           25           14           -- 82
               
3-point goals –SPU 5-22 (Lukasiewicz 0-3, Lasconia 1-4, Hollander 2-5, Evans 0-2, Albert 1-5, Lee 0-2, Pagano 1-1), UAA 6-18 (Devine 2-2, Buchanan 1-2, Robertson 0-1, Madison 1-4, Dent 0-2, Thompson 0-2, Davis 1-3, Engel 1-1, Afoa 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 39 (Hollander 7), UAA 39 (Mullings 9). Assists – SPU 15 (Albert 4), UAA 26 (Davis 5). Turnovers – SPU 26, UAA 14. Total fouls – SPU 15, UAA 17. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 1,156.
 
 
Next game --        Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks
                                Saturday, 7:00 p.m. PST
                                The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska