FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team outscored the Sonoma State Seawolves, 34-14, in the third quarter to turn a one-point lead at the half into a 21-point advantage at the end of the frame, as the Nanooks captured a 76-61 win over the Seawolves in the first game of the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational on Thursday afternoon.
Alaska (4-2) shot a blistering 51.4 percent over the final two periods and forced 16 Sonoma State turnovers in the third and fourth quarters to jump out to a huge second-half lead. Overall, the Nanooks defense got the Seawolves to cough up the ball 28 times, which led to 31 points, as Alaska cruised to a 15-point win. Juniors Jordan Wilson and Jaylee Mays sparked the defensive effort, as Wilson collected six steals, while Mays stole five balls. The duo led Alaska to 20 steals overall, which is the most collected by the team this season. The turnovers led to 31 points for Alaska.
"I really enjoyed the third period today," said head coach Cody Bench. "I thought the offense was where it needed to be. Our offense was once again led by our defense, and we came out of the half with an energy that we really want to have, and that led to a lot of turnovers and easy baskets for us. It was a well-rounded performance today. Jordan and Jaylee really stood out, but this was really a team effort on both sides of the ball."
Wilson and Mays were able to turn their strong defensive efforts into points, as Wilson scored a game-high 22, with Mays chipping in 17. The 22-point outing is the second-straight 20-point performance for Wilson, and marks the third 20-point-plus scoring game this season for the forward. Wilson hit 10-of-15 of her field goal attempts, as she has now connected on 21 of her last 26 shot attempts over the last two games. Mays once against led the team in 3-point field goals, as she hit 3-of-6 from behind the arc. She has now hit a team-best 12 trifectas on the year.
Wilson and Mays were two of the four Nanooks to score double-figures on the day, as Kaillee Skjold added 14 points and Stephanie Toumson scored 12. Toumson also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, to give the senior her second double-double over the past three contests. Alaska outscored Sonoma State 38-14 in points in the paint, as the high percentage shots led to a 42.6 percent performance from the field for the Nanooks.
Alaska found itself down 8-2 to open the game, but Wilson would knot it up at 10-all, as she scored the team's first 10 points. Mays capped off a 10-2 run for the Nanooks with a layup to give the Nanooks their first lead of the day at 12-10, with 4:47 remaining in the opening frame. It seemed as if the game would go into halftime tied at 27-all, but Wilson got fouled with 31 seconds left and hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give Alaska a 28-27 lead at the break.
The game was knotted at 34-34 with 7:02 to go in the third quarter after a Jessica Mitz 3-point basket for SSU. From that point, Alaska would go on a 15-0 run over the next four minutes to take a commanding 49-34 lead. The Nanooks turned up the defensive pressure during the run, as the Seawolves went 0-for-5 from the field and turned the ball over three times. The Nanooks built their lead as high as 22 in the frame, before taking a 62-41-point lead into the final frame. Alaska was able to extend its lead to as much as 28 in the fourth, before settling for the 76-61 victory.
The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team will be back in action tomorrow, as they'll play their second game in the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational against Wisconsin-Parkside at 3 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Court. The Rangers opened the Invitational with a loss to Northwood University earlier on Thursday.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter.
