SEATTLE – With the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, it's no secret how they're going to play: Pressing, trapping defense, and crashing the boards, among other things.
They needed just a little more than two minutes to set that kind of tone against Seattle Pacific on Thursday night.
UAA scored the first 12 points of the game in a span of 2 minutes 13 seconds, getting two off the opening tip-off, four more off turnovers and another two on a second-chance opportunity. The Seawolves kept that up for the rest of the night to down the Falcons in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game in Brougham Pavilion, 90-54.
Emilia Bishop scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Falcons (6-15, 0-8 GNAC). She also had a career-high three blocked shots, and grabbed seven rebounds.
Lolo Weatherspoon added 10 points for SPU, and Hunter Beirne handed out five assists to go with nine points.
The conference-leading Seawolves (17-2, 8-0 GNAC) forced 34 turnovers, 22 of which were steals. That factored into 38 of their 90 points.
After Anchorage's opening outburst, SPU put together a nice 8-2 run of its own on two baskets by Beirne, a lay-in by Layne Kearns, and a lay-in by Bishop to get within 14-8.
The Seawolves countered with six in a row, pushing it back to 20-8. It stayed in double digits the rest of the night except for the opening moments of the second quarter when the Falcons briefly got it back down to nine at 27-18.
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The two teams had almost identical shooting percentages: 43.5 for Seattle Pacific, 43.4 for Alaska Anchorage. But the Seawolves hit 16 more shots (36 to 20) and took 37 more shots (83 to 46). They also were 7 of 15 behind the arc. SPU took just three long ones, and hit one.
-- The rebounds were almost even, with UAA having a 40-36 edge. That included 19-7 at the offensive end, leading to 15 second-chance points. (SPU had 12 points on second chances.)
-- Emilia Bishop's 15 points included a 9-of-10 night at the free throw line – career highs for both makes and attempts. She came in shooting .621 for the season (18 of 29) and boosted that by 71 percentage points to .692 (27 of 39).
-- She also pushed past 200 career points, now with 204. Her previous high was 14 on Nov. 16 at home against Azusa Pacific.
-- Grace Leasure grabbed her 100th career rebound. Haylie-Anne Ohta needs one more to get there.
UP NEXT
The Falcons play the middle game of their three-game homestand on Saturday when they host Alaska Fairbanks at 2:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. The Nanooks dropped a 71-51 decision at Montana State Billings on Thursday. Saturday will be another doubleheader, followed the SPU-Fairbanks men at 4:15.
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage 90, Seattle Pacific 54
ALASKA ANCHORGE (17-2, 8-0 GNAC)
Long 6-11 2-2 14,Gamble 2-7 0-0 4, Rean 8-19 2-3 18, Mack 7-13 3-4 21, Hollingshead 3-8 2-4 8, Sirowich 2-5 0-2 4, Evans 7-14 2-2 19, Alexander 1-6 0-0 2, Koehne 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-83 11-17 90.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-15, 0-8 GNAC)
Weatherspoon 5-10 0-0 10, Beirne 4-9 1-4 9, Kearns 2-4 2-2 6, Rubino 0-4 1-2 1, Leasure 2-5 0-2 4, Ohta 1-2 0-0 Bishop 3-7 9-10 15, Mertes 0-1 0-0 0, Lavigne 2-2 0-0 4, Sharp 0-0 0-0 0, Turley 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-46 13-20 54.
Alaska Anchorage 27 24 21 18 -- 90
Seattle Pacific 16 9 14 15 -- 54
3-point goals – UAA 7-15 (Long 0-1, Gamble 0-1, Mack 4-8, SIrowich 0-1, Evans 3-4 ), SPU 1-3 (Leasure 0-1, Ohta 1-2). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – UAA 40 (Sirowich 11), SPU 36 (Bishop 7). Assists – UAA 16 (Long 4, Alexander 4), SPU 10 (Beirne 5). Turnovers (points allowed) – UAA 14 (10), SPU 34 (38). Total fouls – UAA 19, SPU 16. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 156.
Next game
Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, 2:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
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