ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Ranked No. 9 in the West Region, the Alaska Nanook women's basketball team makes the quick trip south for a Saturday night game against No. 5 nationally ranked Alaska Anchorage in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference clash.
The Nanooks, whose 12-4 (4-2) record is the best since joining the GNAC, have won six straight games and have not lost since the beginning of December. The Seawolves (15-1, 5-1) have only lost to Northwest Nazarene, in an upset at the Alaska Airlines Center.
TV: Tape-delayed statewide at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18 on GCI
ONLINE: Free live stats and video at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa/
Last weekend, the Nanooks earned only their second road conference series sweep in its history, after it defeated Saint Martin's (overtime) and Western Oregon. Prior to that weekend, Alaska earned back-to-back wins over Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene at home.
Against SMU, Jordan Wilson led all scorers with 24 points, including 12 points in the second half and overtime. The sophomore post player shot 10-16 from the field and also had a joint team-high seven rebounds. Arinesha Smith had 17 points for the Nanooks, while Benissa Bulaya had 11 and dished out a game-high eight assists.
In the win against the Wolves, Benissa Bulaya had a game-high 21 points and went 9-13 from the field and divided her points evenly each half with 11 in the first and 10 in the second, to lead the Nanooks. The senior guard also had a team-high five assists and three steals to go along with seven rebounds.
Bulaya's weekend efforts earned her GNAC Player of the Week honors.
Overall, Wilson and Bulaya lead the Nanooks offensively, as they score 16.3 and 10.8 points, respectively. Bulaya also leads the team with 4.9 assists per game.
From beyond the arc, Brianna Kirk and Smith lead the way with 17 made threes, while Kaillee Skjold and Stephanie Toumson guard the boards with respective rebounding totals of 6.7 and 6.1.
UAA: The Seawolves hold NCAA top-10 ranks in seven different categories, leading the nation in steals per game (17.2) and scoring margin (+27.2), along with ranks of 2nd in turnover margin (+9.9), scoring offense (83.8), 4th in offensive rebounds per game (19.0), 6th in rebound margin (+11.3) and 8th in assists (18.0 apg). UAA is also 18th in scoring defense (57.0) and 36th in FG% defense (.360) ... the Seawolves lead the GNAC stats in 11 of 21 categories, including rebounds per game (44.0) and scoring defense (57.0). (Courtesy of UAA)
Series: Alaska Anchorage leads the series 60-30 overall and hold a 38-6 advantage at home. The Seawolves have currently won the last 14 meetings between the two schools, with Alaska's last road win coming in 2006.