University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

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FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Alaska women's basketball team stayed closer to Wayne State College Saturday than any other team had during the 2013 Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational, but a strong second-half push helped the Wildcats pull away and win the tournament title with an 82-64 victory over the Nanooks at the Patty Center.
 
Alaska (6-2) only trailed by five points (39-34) at halftime. Wayne State College's (8-0) previous two halftime leads in the tournament were 14 and 25 points, respectively. But the Wildcats' defense held the Nanooks to 28.9 percent shooting in the second half while the offense shot 50 percent and outscored the Nanooks 43-30 to pull away for the win.
 
Jordan Spencer's 26 points, 17 in the second half, led all players and helped earn her Tournament MVP honors. Her 59 total points (19.7 ppg) for the tournament are the second-most in tournament history. Her 26-point performance Saturday tied for eighth-best in a single game.
 
Freshman forward Kaillee Skjold (Kasilof, Alaska/Emergency Management) led the Nanooks with a season and career-high 16 points, four assists and four steals off the bench. She pulled down five rebounds and was named Era Alaska Nanook of the Game for her efforts.
 
Freshman guard Autumn Childers (Dewey, Ariz./Civil Engineering) also scored a career and season-best with 15 points – the first double-digit scoring performance of her career. Her five field goals included two 3-pointers in the first half that helped the Nanooks stay close.
 
Junior guards Kelly Logue (Fair Oaks, Calif./Journalism) and Benissa Bulaya (Sacramento, Calif./Communications) were both named to the All-Tournament team, along with Wayne State College's Ellen Hansen and Ashton Yossi. Alaska and Wayne State College made up five of the six All-Tournament players. Lees-McRae's Alyssa Munson also made the team after averaging 19.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game during the competition.
 
Logue averaged 7.3 points, 2.7 steals and 2.7 assists during the tournament. She had a huge game in the opener with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Bulaya was the Nanooks' leading scorer during the tournament, averaging 12.0 points and dishing 3.7 assists per game.
 
A quick 7-2 run to start the second half gave Wayne State College its first double-digit lead of the game. That lead would not drop below eight points after that, and was no less than double digits for the rest of the game after a Millie Niggeling layup made it 52-41 with 13:48 to play.
 
The run that clinched it all for the Wildcats was a 15-0 stretch that spanned 4:38 and turned an 11-point game with 12:18 to play into a 26-point advantage with under seven minutes to go. The Nanooks were 0 for 11 from the floor during a 6:08 scoreless stretch in which they also turned the ball over three times.
 
Alaska battled in the first half, falling behind by multiple possessions numerous times, but coming back to cut its deficit to one basket, tie the game or even take the lead. The first half saw five ties and five lead changes in all.
 
The Nanooks were down by six points (10-4) 4 1/2 minutes into the game, but would go on an 8-0 run to take a 12-10 lead with 3-pointers from Childers and freshman guard Victoria Milton (Lansing, Mich./Business Administration) and a bucket from Bulaya. Childers' second trey of the half 40 seconds later gave the Nanooks a 15-12 lead to complete an 11-2 run that spanned 3:26.
 
Alaska begins its 2013-14 Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule next week at home. The Nanooks host Seattle Pacific at 7 p.m. Thursday, then take on Montana State Billings at 7 p.m. Saturday.
 
2013 Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational All-Tournament Team

Name	School	Pos.
Benissa Bulaya	Alaska	G
Ellen Hansen	Wayne State College	F
Kelly Logue	Alaska	G
Alyssa Munson	Lees-McRae	F
Ashton Yossi	Wayne State College	G
Jordan Spencer**	Wayne State College	F

**Tournament MVP
 
2013 Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational Team Results

Wayne State College	3-0
Alaska	2-1
Lees-McRae	1-2
Dominican (CA)	0-3