Jan. 11, 2007
Fairbanks, AK - Every time the Alaska women's team fell behind by double figures against Western Washington Thursday night, the Nanooks would rally with a run to pull close. Despite the constant rallies, Alaska (5-8 overall, 0-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) could never get over the hump in a 79-73 loss to the Vikings (10-3, 3-0 GNAC) at the Patty Center.
Junior guard Kari Reabold (Fairbanks, AK) paced the Nanooks with a game-high 23 points, eight rebounds and two steals to take home Toyota Player of the Game honors. Sophomore guard Sheena Brown (Fairbanks, AK) finished with 22 points and five rebounds, while freshman forward Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, WA) added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Center Krystal Robinson led the Vikings with 15 points, 11 boards and four blocks, while guard Mollie Stelmack chipped in 14 points. Elyse Hartman, Liz McCarrell and India Soo all finished with 11 points for Western.
Alaska fell behind 23-8 just nine minutes into the contest but responded with a 14-2 run to pull within 25-22 at 6:32 mark. Brown capped the run with a triple but the Vikings came right back with a 14-4 spurt to go up 39-26 with 1:49 left in the half. The Nanooks then rattled off a 5-0 run including a Brown jumper at the buzzer to pull within single digits at the break.
The momentum carried over into the second half, as the Nanooks had an 8-1 run including six straight Reabold points to cut the lead to 40-39 with 16:45 left. But yet again Western had a response in the form of a 5-0 burst finished by a three-point play from McCarrell.
The Vikings pushed the lead to 10, 57-47, with 10:48 on a deep three from McCarrell. Alaska cut the advantage to 61-57 on two Mia Seagraves (Long Beach, CA) free throws with 6:24 left and had possession of the ball with a chance to cut the lead further. But Brown's errant passed was picked off by MacKenzie Flynn, whose lay-up sparked a 10-2 Viking run.
Western led 74-62 with a minute and a half to go and the Nanooks were forced to foul. Alaska scored 11 points in the final minute but the Vikings made 5-of-8 free throws to hold on for the win.
The Vikings shot 51 percent for the game, while the Nanooks struggled to 34 percent from the floor. Alaska stayed in the game by outrebounding the taller Viking frontline, winning the turnover battle (25-21) and watching Western muster just 60 percent from the free throw line. The Nanooks enjoyed a 44-40 edge on the boards including a 26-16 advantage on the offensive glass.
Alaska will now face Seattle University at the Patty Center on Saturday. The contest tips off at 7:00 p.m. AST.
