BURNABY, B.C. -- Junior guard Kaillee Skjold scored a career-high 30 points and collected 12 rebounds for the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, but that would not be enough to lift the Nanooks past Simon Fraser, as they fell, 77-60, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
Skjold becomes just the fourth Alaska (5-5, 0-2 GNAC) player to enjoy a 30-point performance since the Nanooks joined the GNAC back in 2001. She also becomes the first player to accomplish the feat in nearly six years. Sheena Brown was the last player for Alaska to surpass the 30-point plateau with her 44-point outing against Central Washington back on Feb. 12, 2009.
The Kasilof, Alaska native scored exactly half of her team's points against the Clan (3-4, 1-1 GNAC), as she shot 48 percent from the floor (12-of-25). Skjold added 12 rebounds, which gave the guard her second double-double of the year, with the first coming on Nov. 18, when she had 11 points and 10 rebounds at BYU Hawai'i. Skjold also handed out a team-best five assists on Saturday and added a steal.
Sjkold was joined in the double-digit scoring column by classmate Jordan Wilson. The Henderson Colorado native added 12 points to push her double-digit scoring streak to eight games.
Alaska outrebounded the Clan, 45-44, and won the turnover battle (12-13) but shot just 34.3 percent from the field on Saturday. Conversely, SFU shot an even 41 percent from the floor, which was led by a 50 percent shooting performance in the final two quarters.
Simon Fraser held a seven-point lead after the first quarter, but the Nanooks would overcome the deficit, as they took a 24-22 lead at the 5:02 mark of the second quarter after an Arinesha Smith 3-point field goal. The Clan closed the second quarter on an 11-4 run to take a 33-28 lead into the break.
The third quarter was all Simon Fraser, as they built a double-digit lead (41-30) less than two minutes into the frame. The Clan extended its lead to as many as 16 before settling for the 13-point advantage going into the final quarter of play. SFU continued to push its lead in the fourth, as it grew to a game-high 21 points after a pair of Fiona Beales free throws. The Nanooks could not pull much closer than that, as they took the 17-point defeat to go 0-2 on their first GNAC road trip of the year.
The Clan had four players score double-figures, as Elisa Homer collected a team-high 19 points. Rachel Fradgley also had a double-double on Saturday, as she turned in a 14-point, 14-rebound effort.
Alaska will continue its road trip next weekend, as they take on archrival, and second-ranked, Alaska Anchorage next Saturday. Tipoff from the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage is set for 2 p.m.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter.
