FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Alaska will set out on the road for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball matchups as it takes on Western Oregon Thursday and Saint Martin's on Saturday. Both contests are set for 7 p.m. (PST).
The Nanooks enter the week 6-19 overall with a 2-13 mark in the GNAC, while the Wolves are 6-18 on the year and 5-9 in league play and the Saints are 7-17 and 2-12.
“We're hitting our last double-header road trip,” head coach
Cody Burgess said. “I think we should have some success as far as carrying over from the last couple weeks how we've been playing and definitely improved.”
Burgess Video Preview
She continued, “We're excited to be on the road for those two games and to prove we're more than just a couple wins in this conference.”
Last week, the Nanooks dropped a 72-64 decision to Simon Fraser, before falling 91-62 to Western Washington in their final two home games of the season.
Nicole Bozek led Alaska with 15.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. She also drained all 14 free throw attempts including 12 for 12 against WWU. After she converted on her ninth shot from the line on Saturday, she became just the fifth player in GNAC history to record 1,100 points, 600 rebounds and 400 made free throws. Other top contributors included
Nicole Hartzog (12.0 ppg, 3.5 apg) and
Taylor Altenburg (10.0 ppg).
In the GNAC rankings, Bozek is the league's fifth-leading scorer (16.1 ppg), while ranking fourth in free throw percentage (.831), sixth in blocks (0.8 bpg) and seventh in rebounding (7.8 rpg). Hartzog is the top-scoring freshman in the conference with 10.9 points per game as well as ranking second in the entire league in steals (2.6 spg) and fifth in free throw percentage (.814). Altenburg ranks ninth in free throw percentage (.788) while
Kelly Logue is seventh in steals (1.8 spg).
Jacqueline Lovato also makes the cut in 14th in three-point percentage (.360).
As a team, Alaska is third in free throw percentage (.746) as it has tallied the most points in the league from the line with 469 made, which is 120 ahead of the next team (UAA). It also grabs 10.3 steals per game, which also ranks third.
Game 26: Alaska ( Game Notes ) at Western Oregon
When: Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. Pacific
Where: Monmouth, Ore. (New PE Building)
Live Stats
Video: NMTVSports (Free Streaming)
About Western Oregon: Located in Monmouth, Ore., Western Oregon University was founded in 1856 and has an enrollment of 6,500 students. The Wolves enter Thursday with a 6-18 overall record and a 5-9 mark in GNAC play. Last time these two teams met on Jan. 21,
Nicole Bozek brought down an offensive rebound in the final second of regulation to secure Alaska's 69-68 win in Fairbanks.
Western Oregon enters Saturday with a 6-18 overall record and a 5-9 mark in the GNAC.
WOU averages 60.2 points per game while allowing 69.4 points through 24 games this season. As a team, it shoots 41.8-percent from the floor while allowing opponents to shoot 43.2-percent. The Wolves are outrebounded on the boards by a margin of 35.9 to 34.3 on average.
Two players score in double figures for this very balanced offense.
Rylee Peterson leads the team with 16.3 points per game, while
Jade Haas scores 10.0 points per game. Two others score between 7.1 and 8.3 points per outing. Peterson is the squad's leading rebounder with 6.8 per contest.
Coach: Greg Bruce (Purdue '72) is in sixth season at the helm of the WOU women's basketball program. During Bruce's coaching career he has also served as the head women's basketball coach at Portland State, Northern Colorado, Cal State Bakersfield and Fort Lewis. In 18 years as a head coach, he has won more than 330 games.
Game 27: Alaska ( Game Notes )))) at Saint Martin's
When: Saturday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. Pacific
Where: Lacey, Wash. (Marcus Pavilion)
Live Stats
Video: NMTVSports (Free Streaming)
About Saint Martin's: Located in Lacey, Wash., Saint Martin's University was founded in 1895 and has an enrollment of 1,781 students. The Saints enter Thursday with a 7-17 overall record with a 2-12 mark in GNAC play.
SMU averages 55.0 points per game while allowing 64.5 points through 24 games this season. As a team, it shoots 35.8-percent from the floor, while opponents are a little better at 39.3-percent. The Saints struggle on the boards as opponents win the rebounding war by an average of 41.1 to 34.5.
Chelsea Haskey is the lone Saint to average double figures with 13.3 points per game, while five others score between 4.8 and 6.1 points per game. Haskey also leads the team with 8.3 rebounds per game.
Coach: Tim Healy (Washington State '78) is in his 17th season at the helm of the SMU program and 32nd year in coach and has compiled more than 200 wins as a collegiate coach. He led his teams to two NCAA appearances (2004-05, 2007-08) as well as a berth in the inaugural GNAC Tournament last year. He was named the conference's Coach of the Year in 2005.
