Jan. 12, 2008
Box Score
NAMPA, ID -Three players scored in double digits, led by junior Sheena Brown's career-best 34-point performance, but the Alaska Nanooks efforts fell short as they dropped a 93-89 decision at the hands of the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders Saturday night in Nampa.
For the second straight game the Nanooks came out flat to the delight of the Crusaders, who opened up an 11-0 advantage before the Blue and Gold were able to register their first score of the game. Things looked dim for Alaska as it trailed by as many as 19 points in the first 20 minutes of play, getting just five points from its reserves as compared to NNU's 19 points off the bench and being outshot 53.1-39.5 percent and trailing 48-37 heading into the intermission.
"We came out flat and they jumped on us," said head coach Lynne Andrew. "We tired to keep it close, but they got too many uncontested lay-ups and they shot 53 percent. We did a good job of taking care of the ball (13 turnovers) but our inside game struggled and theirs didn't."
Down but not out, the Nanooks clawed their way back into the game on the shoulders of Brown, whose 20 second-half points helped spark a valiant comeback. Senior Kari Reabold also lent a hand, netting 13 of her 20 points and adding three assists and three steals. Alaska used a 10-2 run to cut the Crusaders lead to three points at 16:55.
Rookie Megan Thigpen converted on two foul shots, followed by a good three-pointer from Reabold to pull the Nanooks within one point, and then a jumper by sophomore Sarah Herrin gave Alaska its first lead of the game at 13:04. The lead changed hands four more times with either team never leading by more than two points, before the Crusaders found a second wind and were able to take the lead for good at 9:41.
"It's frustrating becuse we're capable of playing that way (early second half run) the whole game," Andrew said. "We've got to figure out how to start a game and if things don't go our way to not get so easily deflated."
Junior Cristina Bruketta checked in with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the Nanooks fifth straight loss.
Alaska (7-5, 0-4 GNAC) returns to Fairbanks to host Western Oregon Thursday at 5:15 p.m. The game opens a GNAC double-header with the men's team, who hosts Western Washington at 7:30 p.m.
