ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Senior Arinesha Smith scored a season-high 17 points in the first game of the 2015 Seawolf Hoops Classic on Saturday afternoon, but her efforts could not help the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team to victory at the Alaska Airlines Center, as they fell, 81-54, to No. 20 UC San Diego.

The loss drops Alaska to 5-7 on the year, as they have now dropped five-straight contests. Meanwhile, it is the seventh-consecutive win for UC San Diego, as they improve to 8-1.

"The start of the first half really hurt us," said head coach Cody Bench after the game. "We came back out at half and played really tough, but that wasn't enough. Arinesha played really well for us and Jordan Wilson worked hard the entire night. We need to come back out tomorrow and get ready for another good opponent"

The 17-point outing for Smith not only was a season-high in points for the SeaTac, Washington native, but also matched her career-best scoring performance, which was set against Saint Martin's back on Jan. 8, 2015. The guard drilled five of her eight shot attempts on the night and done most of her damage at the free throw line, where she drilled a team-best seven shots from the charity stripe.

Smith was one of three players to record double-digit points on Saturday night, as juniors Jordan Wilson and Jaylee Mays tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively. The 12-point outing for Wilson extends her double-digit scoring streak to 10 games.

Junior Kaillee Skjold grabbed a team-best eight rebounds in the losing effort. Fellow junior Autumn Childers also tied a career-best in caroms, as she pulled down seven.

The Nooks opened the game with a 6-2 lead after a Childers' jumper with 7:26 remaining in first quarter. That would be the last two points Alaska would score in the opening frame, as the Tritons went on a 23-0 run to take a commanding 25-6 lead going into the second. UCSD built its lead as high as 26 in the second quarter to take a 41-15 lead into the break.

Alaska would begin to click offensively in the third quarter, as they scored a total of 24 points in the frame. Despite the Nooks outburst in the second half, UC San Diego maintained its 20-point lead throughout the final two quarters, as they captured the 81-54 victory.  

The Tritons were led by Jamie Katuna's 18-point outing and Farrah Shokoor's 13-point, 12-rebound double-double.

The Nanooks return to action tomorrow afternoon, as they conclude the 2015 Seawolf Hoops Classic against Cedarville University (Ohio). Tip-off from the Alaska Airlines Center is set for 3:30 p.m.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter.