University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

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Highlights

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Alaska women's basketball team went down shooting Thursday night.

Alaska made five 3-pointers in the game's final 72 seconds trying to come back against Northwest Nazarene, but the Crusaders made 11 of 12 free-throw attempts during the same stretch to hold off the Nanooks 86-81 at the Patty Center.
 
Alaska (8-10, 2-8 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) made a season-high 14 3-pointers, tied for seventh-most all-time in a single game in GNAC history. It was the most treys the Nanooks have made in a single game during the entire 13-year history of the GNAC. Alaska also attempted a season-high 30 shots from beyond the arc, shooting 46.7 percent for the game after entering Thursday night shooting just 25.5 percent from downtown.
 
Freshman guard Victoria Milton (Lansing, Mich./Business Administration) started the Nanooks' furious comeback with a 3-pointer at the 1 minute, 12 seconds mark. That bucket made it a six-point game at 75-69 after four straight free throws from NNU's Kayla Schumann had given the Crusaders (12-6, 5-5 GNAC) a nine-point, 75-66 lead.
 
The Nanooks actually trailed by as many as 10 points with 3:20 to play, but that was after leading by as many as eight points with a 56-48 lead at the 9:28 mark. That was the turning point in the game, as Northwest Nazarene went on a 21-3 run over a 5:56 period to take a 10-point, 69-59 lead.
 
Alaska began fouling with one minute left to stop the clock, and Northwest Nazarene made good on 10 straight free throws to stay ahead. Chelsie Luke and Taylor Simmons made four each in the game's waning seconds and Schumann added two more with 22 seconds left, pushing NNU's lead back up to two possessions at 85-81.
 
Every time Northwest Nazarene made its clutch free throws with seconds left in the game, Alaska followed with a made 3-pointer and a foul to stop the clock. Junior guard Candace Prestwich (Murray, Utah/Business Administration) made two straight treys after Milton's bucket, first closing it to a five-point game, then four with her second at 79-75.
 
Milton assisted on both of Prestwich's 3-pointers, then made another one of her own, making it a one-possession game at 81-78 with 38 seconds left. Alaska's fifth and final 3-pointer came from freshman forward Kaillee Skjold (Kasilof, Alaska/Emergency Management), who pulled the Nanooks within two points at 83-81 with 26 seconds to play. Milton assisted on Skjold's long-ball as well, giving her a hand on all five of the Nanooks' 3-pointers in the game's final seconds.
 
Alaska would finally miss from downtown with 13 seconds left to play. NNU's Megan Hingston grabbed the rebound and made one of two free throws to put the game away. The Crusaders went 30 for 32 (93.8 percent) from the charity stripe Thursday, as Alaska was called for more than twice as many fouls as them (23-11).
 
Alaska tied a season-high with 20 assists, led by Prestwich's career-high five helpers. Both teams had five players score in double figures. Hingston led all players with 18 points. Milton and freshman forward Jordan Wilson (Henderson, Colo./Business Administration) had 15 points apiece to lead Alaska.
 
Wilson grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Simmons scored 14 points and had a game-high six steals to go with four assists and five rebounds for Northwest Nazarene. Both teams shot the exact same percentage – 44.8 percent.
 
Alaska plays host again at 3 p.m. Saturday, this time taking on Central Washington, who fell 77-70 at Alaska Anchorage Thursday.