FAIRBANKS – The Alaska women's basketball team returns to the Patty Center this weekend with a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games against Western Oregon and Saint Martin's, this Thursday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., respectively.
Saturday's game against the Saints is designated as Play4Kay night. Players will wear pink socks and shoelaces and will also be warming up in pink shirts. The American Cancer Society will set up a table in the Patty lobby with information and to accept donations, half of which will go to the Play4Kay cause and the other will go to Making Strides of Fairbanks.
Watch: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/uaf/
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/uaf/wbball/
The Nanooks are looking to end a five-game losing streak, as Alaska currently sits seventh in the GNAC standings at 4-7 with an overall record of 12-9. Saint Martin's and Western Oregon represent the last two teams that the Nanooks have defeated, and are crucial wins for the race for a GNAC playoff spot, as the Saints sit just above Alaska in the standings and Western Oregon's 2-8 conference record puts it in last.
Last time out, the Nanooks were swept by Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington on the road. In their last series at home, the Nanooks fell to both Simon Fraser and Western Washington.
In the win at Saint Martin's on January 8, Alaska held off a late charge by the Saints to win a thrilling tie in overtime, 85-77. Jordan Wilson led all scorers with 24 points including 12 points in the second half and overtime. Arinesha Smith scored 17 points while Benissa Bulaya had 11 points and eight assists in the win as well.
Bulaya then scored 21 points in the win against Western Oregon, as she led the way for a quartet of Alaskans to score in double figures. Wilson (16), Kailee Skjold (12) and Smith (10) scored in double-digits to push Alaska to a 74-65 win.
The Nanooks will have to slow a surging Saints team, led by Kristan Stabler's 11.5 points per game, who have won three games in a row and a Western Oregon team led by the duo of Dana Goularte (15.1 ppg) and Jordan Mottershaw (12.0 ppg).
