Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves never let up on defense – and they never let Seattle Pacific get into its offense on Saturday night.
The 10
th-ranked Seawolves went on a 20-0 scoring run bridging the first and second quarters and kept SPU without a field goal for nearly 20 minutes in rolling to a 78-37 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory.
UAA (17-1, 9-1 GNAC) was down 10-6 early in the first quarter in the Alaska Airlines Center when it started its 20-point scoring outburst to take command of the game. Of those 20 points, eight came off Falcon turnovers.
"They're a good team and they're a tough team to play up in Anchorage," SPU head coach
Mike Simonson said. "Once we started turning the ball over, we lost sight of our game plan, and that's when the wheels fell off a little bit."
SPU (6-11, 5-5 GNAC) hit four of its first five shots. But the Falcons then missed their next 16 tries, from the 7:02 mark of the first quarter when
Riley Evans buried a 3-pointer from the left of the lane for that 10-6 lead, to the 7:35 mark of the third when
Cici West banked a lay-in off the backboard to trim Anchorage's advantage to 54-20.
Their only points during that 19-minute, 27-second field goal drought were eight from the free throw line, all in the second quarter.
It was Seattle Pacific's lowest score since a 73-47 loss at Anchorage last Feb. 15. The last time the Falcons didn't reach the 40-point mark was Jan. 23, 1991 in a 72-32 loss at Simon Fraser.
Senior guard
Riley Evans led SPU with 10 points, all in the first half.
Seattle Pacific shot just 22.7 percent for the game, hitting 10 of 44. Alaska Anchorage hit at a 50.8 percent clip (32 of 63), including 61.8 percent (21 of 34) in the first half.
But after giving up 50 first-half points, the Falcons yielded just 28 in the second half.
"We did a great job defensively in the second half, so that's a very positive point," Simonson said.
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Seawolves, known for their pressing, tenacious defense, forced 24 turnovers, leading to 23 points.
-- Even with Saturday's loss, SPU split its Alaska trip, having beaten Fairbanks on Thursday night, 62-55.
-- The Falcons had another solid night at the free throw line, hitting 15 of 18 (83.3 percent). That is their fourth straight game in the 80s, a streak that has helped raise the team's season percentage by 34 points from .679 to .713.
-- Sophomore guard
Hailee Bennett was 4 of 4 at the line, extending her streak to 20 straight makes.
-- Senior guard
Jaylee Albert had two rebounds, pushing her past 200 for her career. She now has 201.
UP NEXT
SPU begins the second half of conference play with four straight home games in Brougham Pavilion. The first of those is Tuesday night against
Saint Martin's at 7:00 p.m.
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
(No. 10) Alaska Anchorage 78, Seattle Pacific 37
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-11, 5-5 GNAC)
Evans 3-9 2-2 10, Boston 3-6 1-2 7, Bennett 0-3 4-4 4, Albert 1-2 2-2 4, Hoff 0-1 3-4 3, Rataushk 1-4 0-0 2, West 1-4 0-0 2, Skidmore 1-8 0-0 2, Hingston 0-5 2-2 2, Alter 0-2 1-2 1, Berg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-44 15-18 37.
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (17-1, 9-1 GNAC)
Wandersee 8-12 2-2 18, Langi 5-11 2-2 12, Thompson 4-9 0-0 11, Good 5-6 1-1 11, Stallworth 3-7 0-0 8, Hajdukovich 2-4 0-0 5, Yasin 2-4 0-0 5, Voliva 2-5 0-0 4, McNair 1-4 1-2 3, Fernandez-Roy 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 32-63 7-9 78.
Seattle Pacific 10 8 8 11 -- 37
Alaska Anchorage 24 26 16 12 -- 78
3-point goals – SPU 2-14 (Evans 2-7, Bennett 0-1, Albert 0-1, West 0-1, Skidmore 0-1, Hingston 0-3), UAA 7-23 (Thompson 3-8, Stallworth 2-5, Yasin 1-3, Hajdukovich 1-3, Langi 0-3, Wandersee 0-1).
Fouled out – None.
Rebounds – SPU 30 (Hingston 6), UAA 35 (Thompson 6).
Assists – SPU 9 (Bennett 3), UAA 27 (Stallworth 5).
Turnovers – SPU 24, UAA 13.
Attendance – 866.
Next game
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific
Tuesday, Jan. 29 7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.