Box Score ANCHORAGE – Hanna Johansson posted a double-double with 23 points and 16 rebounds to lead eighth-ranked Alaska Anchorage to a 94-49 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Alaska on Saturday night in front of 746 spectators at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
The Seawolves, who rank second in the Division II West Region and will be the top seed at next weekend's GNAC Championship, improved to 25-4 overall and 16-2 in league play, while the Nanooks fell to 6-22 on the season and 2-15 in the GNAC.
Johansson shot eight of nine from the field and converted on seven of eight free throw attempts to go with four of her team's nine blocks. Other double-figure scorers for UAA were
Haley Holmstead (19) and
Kaylie Robison (14).
Sasha King and
Gritt Ryder combined for 21 of the Seawolves' 31 assists.
UAA shot 48-percent for the game and hit 17 of 22 (.773) from the charity stripe. It dominated on the glass by a 57-31 margin, including 24-13 offensively. It forced Alaska into 24 turnovers, which resulted in 35 points off UAF giveaways.
For the Nanooks, redshirt senior
Nicole Bozek (Mukilteo, Wash./Kamiak) concluded her stellar career with a team-best 18 points to go with six rebounds. Freshman
Benissa Bulaya scored 11 points, while tying her career-high with five assists.
The Nanooks struggled in the shot department, managing to make only 28-percent (16-58) of their shots. They also found difficulty at the free throw line, sinking 13 of 20 (.650), well under the season average.
UAA stormed out to a 9-0 lead less than two minutes into the game, but Alaska came back with layups by Bozek and Bulaya to trim the deficit to five. From there the Seawolves limited the Nanooks to four points over the course of seven minutes, while scoring 24 points in that span. UAA took a 47-23 lead into halftime.
Bozek opened the second half with a layup and that would be as close as the 'Nooks would get as Anchorage would outscore UAF 47-26 in the final 20 minutes.
It was the final game for Bozek and senior teammates
Jeni Gabriel (Stayton, Ore./Walla Walla) and
Autumn Greene (Lewiston, Idaho/Centralia CC).
