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FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Briaunna King tallied game-highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead Northwest Nazarene to an 83-56 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball win against Alaska on Saturday at the Patty Center.
King, who shot nine of 17 from the floor and had five offensive rebounds, helped the Crusaders (12-7, 6-5 GNAC) come back from a 40-point loss two nights ago at nationally-ranked Alaska Anchorage.
Chelsie Luke scored 20 points to go with eight rebounds, while
Megan Hingston fell one rebound shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine boards.
NNU shot 42-percent (31-74) from the floor and held a 52-38 advantage on the glass, including 19-12 on offensive rebounds. The Crusaders had 25 points on second-chance opportunities, while forcing the Nanooks (6-15, 2-9 GNAC) into 27 turnovers, resulting in 32 points off the home team's giveaways. As a team, they also cashed in on 19 of 27 free throws (.704).
Three Nanooks scored 12 points to pace the offense as freshman
Benissa Bulaya (Sacramento, Calif./El Camino Fundamental), junior
Taylor Altenburg (Elko, Nev./College of Southern Idaho) and senior
Autumn Greene (Lewiston, Idaho/Centralia CC) each tied for team-high honors. Bulaya added six rebounds and a team-best three assists, while Altenburg drained eight of nine from the free throw line. Freshman
Alexandra Eime (Union, Mo./Nerinx Hall) also brought down a team and career-best seven rebounds.
“Since we were missing players today, we felt we needed to step up as a team and I needed to step up to fill in the spots we were missing,” Bulaya said of her play against NNU.
Alaska shot just 26-percent (17-65) for the game and hit only two threes on 12 tries. It took advantage of its free throws, however, sinking 20 of 24 attempts (.833).
“I'm glad we shot better at the free throw line tonight and 83-percent is really good,” head coach
Cody Burgess said. “We defended the three-point line a lot better and our half court and zone defense did better [than Thursday].”
Leading 14-12 in the first, NNU reeled off 10 in a row to double up UAF at 24-12 with 10:54 to go. It held a double digit lead for nearly the rest of the frame and took a 41-26 lead into halftime. The Crusaders surged out of the locker room with a 10-2 run for a 51-28 advantage less than two minutes into the second. The Nanooks never recovered and were unable to get to within 21 the rest of the way at Nazarene led by as many as 33 points late in the contest.
The 'Nooks return to action next Thursday when traveling to Billings, Mont., to face the Yellowjackets of MSU-Billings.
