FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Alaska women's basketball team will have to wait a little while before seeing the comforts of their own gym in 2014, as it begins the new year on the road with two Great Northwest Athletic Conference games. The Nanooks travel to Central Washington on Thursday and then face No. 17 Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, Saturday.
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Alaska (6-4, 0-2 GNAC) has not competed since an 83-46 loss to Montana State Billings on Dec. 7, taking the rest of December off before playing this weekend. The Nanooks will look to end a three-game losing streak that has followed after team's best start since 2007-08 at 6-1. Two of those three losses came to teams currently ranked in the top 25 (Seattle Pacific, Wayne State College), and the third came at the hands of the GNAC preseason favorite, MSUB.
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Alaska has been one of the best defensive teams in the conference so far, standing in second for steals per game (11.5) and fourth in rebounding (41.4 rpg). Thursday's game at Central Washington (5-5, 0-2 GNAC) will be a matchup of one of the GNAC's best 3-point shooting teams (CWU) against one of the best 3-point defending teams (Alaska). The Wildcats have averaged a GNAC-best 7.6 3-pointers per game, while the Nanooks have limited opponents to 26.3 percent shooting beyond the arc – fifth-best in the conference.
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No. 17 Northwest Nazarene (8-2, 1-1 GNAC) will be Alaska's third opponent in their last five games that is receiving votes in the national poll. The Crusaders are ranked among the top three in 15 of 21 team statistical categories tracked by the GNAC. One of the areas they lack in is 3-point field goal defense, coming in last in the conference while allowing opponents to shoot 32.8 percent from downtown.
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Freshman forward
Jordan Wilson (Henderson, Colo./Business Administration) has been the Nanooks' leader in multiple facets of the game this season. The rookie enters 2014 ranked among the GNAC's top 10 in scoring (7th, 15.5 ppg), rebounding (t-6th, 7.8 rpg), offensive rebounds per game (2nd, 3.8) and field goal percentage (3rd, 55.8 percent).
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Junior guards
Benissa Bulaya (Sacramento, Calif./Communication) and
Kelly Logue (Fair Oaks, Calif./Journalism) have also played big parts for the Nanooks. Bulaya has been the team's second-best scorer at 9.2 ppg and has led the offense from the point guard position with a team-best 2.9 assists per game. Logue has been a defensive catalyst for the Nanooks, leading the team in steals (2.4 spg, 5th in GNAC) and blocks (7) while averaging 7.3 ppg and 2.7 rpg.
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Game #11: Alaska at Central Washington – Thursday, Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. (AKST)
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LIVE STATS/LIVE VIDEO
The Wildcats (5-5, 0-2 GNAC) most recently split a two-game series with visiting Hawaii Pacific on Dec. 16-17, winning the first game 72-68 before dropping the second 85-77. CWU dropped both of its games on the road during the GNAC's opening weekend Dec. 5 and 7. Saint Martin's handed the Wildcats a 64-49 defeat on Dec. 5 before they fell in overtime 71-63 at Western Oregon on Dec. 7.
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While Central Washington leads the GNAC in 3-pointers made (7.6 per game), it is only 8th in the conference in 3-point percentage at 28.5 percent. It has the worst scoring defense in the conference, allowing opponents to score 67.9 points per game, and the second-worst field goal percentage defense, as opponents have shot 40.0 percent in 10 games. Jessica VanDyke is the fourth-best scorer in the conference and leads the team with 18.0 ppg. Jasmine Parker leads the Wildcats in rebounding with 8.4 boards per game and has also chipped in 10.3 ppg.
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Game #12: Alaska at No. 17 Northwest Nazarene – Saturday, Jan. 4 at 3:15 p.m. (AKST)
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LIVE STATS/LIVE VIDEO
The No. 17 Crusaders (8-2, 1-1 GNAC) began the season 7-0, but are 1-2 since with road losses to Saint Martin's and Hawaii Pacific. Despite recent struggles away from the Johnson Sports Center, the Crusaders are still among the GNAC's top three teams in 15 different categories, including topping the lists for free-throw percentage (77.3 percent), field goal percentage (44.9 percent) and rebounding margin (+9.7).
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Megan Hingston has led the Crusaders in scoring with 18.3 ppg – third-best in the GNAC. She is also second on the team in rebounding with 7.7 rpg. That trails Kylee Schierman's 9.7 boards per contest, which ranks third in the GNAC. Schierman is also ranked eighth in the conference in blocks with a team-best 1.2 per game.
