Box Score HILO, Hawaii - For the second time in three days, the Alaska women's basketball team took care of business on the road and defeated Hawaii-Hilo 64-55 Sunday afternoon.
“I'm proud of the girls for holding their ground and making a rally,” head coach
Cody Burgess said. “It's tough to play on the road. Hilo did a good job keeping us on our toes and they came after us. Our team made some stops, had some great rebounds in the second half and I was really proud of their effort, so it feels good.”
The win over Hilo marked the first time in nearly three years that the Nanooks won consecutive true road contests.
The Nanooks (2-3) had four score in double figures, led by senior forward
Autumn Greene (Lewiston, Idaho/Centralia CC), who had a game-high 16 points. Senior center
Nicole Bozek (Mukilteo, Wash./Kamiak) was one rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine boards.
“Autumn brings so much fire and intensity to the team and she's really playing with a lot of heart because it's her senior year,” Burgess said. “She's aggressive on the ball, especially defensively getting tips and rebounds, which is very helpful. Today she was after it, she really wanted this win and she's leading by example for sure.”
Burgess continued, “It helps
Nicole Bozek because they had to key in on Autumn which opened up Nicole's shots in the second half, so it's a definitely a good duo and I hope they keep it rolling.”
Joining the seniors in double figures were junior forward
Jacqueline Lovato (Gunnison, Colo./McCook CC) and freshman guard
Nicole Hartzog (Beaverton, Ore./Beaverton) who had 10 points apiece.
Hotia Vaaimamao posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Vulcans (0-4), while Kirsty Imai and Natalie Mata each had 10 points.
UA shot better than 53-percent in the first half and finished 43-percent (25-58 FG) for the game, while limiting UHH to 32-percent (20-62 FG) from the floor. Alaska had great ball movement on the offensive side, tallying 21 assists on 25 made shots. The 'Nooks held a slim 42-41 rebounding advantage, but the Vulcans won the battle on the offensive glass, 17-13.
Alaska opened the game with a 15-5 run in the opening 5:28. It led by as many as 15 points but Hilo went on a 10-2 run over the final 4:45 to trim the lead to 36-29 at the break.
The Vulcans stormed out of the locker room on a 9-2 run to knot the game at 38-38 with 14:51 to go, but Lovato drained the go-ahead three-pointer 18 seconds later. Holding a 47-42 advantage, the Nanooks opened up the game with seven straight points for a 54-42 lead with 7:58 to play. UHH never came closer than eight the rest of the way.
“It's a great feeling to know I can play all 10 girls,” Burgess said. “It gives me a lot of optimism for the rest of the season that they're ready to work, put forth a good attitude and get the job done. I really couldn't be prouder of them to come out and beat the same team twice on their home court.”
The Nanooks return to action next Thursday when they open up play at the 2011 Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational. Lenior-Rhyne, West Liberty and Western State join Alaska in the four-team event.
