Box Score FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Nyesha Sims scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the first half and corralled a career-best 19 rebounds as Seattle Pacific ran away with an 88-64 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Alaska Thursday at the Patty Center.
“I feel that [the Nanooks] played hard tonight,” Alaska head coach
Cody Burgess said. “We still have lots of areas to improve. We're trying to build that team, come together, find our strengths and fix our weaknesses. SPU is a good team and they took it to us but I felt like we held our own for the most part.”
The Falcons (10-3, 4-1 GNAC) had little trouble rebounding the basketball, outworking the Nanooks (4-10, 0-4 GNAC) 56-28, including 16-3 on the offensive glass. They shot 48-percent (37-77) from the floor, while holding Alaska to just under 35-percent (22-63) shooting. SPU also shared the ball very well and capitalized on the transition, accounting for 28 totals assists.
Sims posted her fifth double-double of the season in the first half to lead the Falcons attack, while
Katie Benson poured in 17 points and
Aubree Callen had 12.
“Nyesha is very capable and not afraid to do the hard work,” SPU head coach
Julie Heisey said. “She loves to rebound and tonight she did. She pretty much took of the boards on her own.”
Freshman guard
Nicole Hartzog (Beaverton, Ore./Beaverton) shot the ball particularly well for the Nanooks, leading to her team-high 21 points on seven of nine shooting as well as a perfect six of six from the charity stripe. Senior center
Nicole Bozek (Mukilteo, Wash.) also scored in double figures with 12 points to go with her team-high seven rebounds.
SPU shot over 51-percent from the floor in the first half and outrebounded Alaska 29-13 to seize control early. Leading 17-12 with 12:24 remaining, it scored seven in a row to double up Alaska at 24-12 just past the halfway point in the first. The Nanooks cut it back to eight at 24-16, but the Falcons responded with 16-2 run that spanned 6:13 to take control at 40-18. They took a 44-26 lead into the locker room.
Leading 53-31 with just over 17 minutes to play, SPU was able to put on the afterburners as it stretched the margin to 34 with a 14-2 run in 2:39 to grab a commanding 67-33 advantage with 13:55 to go.
The Nanooks return to the court Saturday at 3 p.m. with a home matchup against Montana State-Billings, which fell 59-50 at ninth-ranked Alaska Anchorage on Thursday.
NOTE: Senior forward
Autumn Greene (Lewiston, Idaho/Centralia CC) only played the first two minutes before leaving the game with a hand injury. Her return for Saturday's game is questionable.
