FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Down 15 points with just over six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team refused to give up and battled back to defeat the Stanislaus State Warriors 73-71 at the Alaska Airlines Court on Friday afternoon. The victory was part of the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational and improves the Nooks' overall record to 4-2, while the Warriors fall to 2-4.

Alaska now sits with a 1-1 record in the tournament, while Stanislaus falls to 1-1. Metro State University of Denver falls to 0-2 after dropping the early game to Newman University, who sits at the top of the standings at 2-0.

Trailing 51-66 at the 6:05 mark in the fourth quarter, senior forward Jordan Wilson got the momentum going with two good back-to-back layups. After Stan State's Ana Burch posted a good layup, the Nooks went on an 11-point run thanks to a timely three-pointer by senior guard Jaylee Mays and good layups by seniors Victoria Milton, Kaillee Skjold and Wilson to pull to within 66-68.

Stan State answered with a three-point free throw play to take a 69-66 lead, but Mays capitalized on a quick steal and went down for two-points. The play was followed up by a good free-throw by Wilson to tie the game 69-69 at the 1:20 mark. Skjold posted a good jump-shot at 1:08 to take the lead 71-69 before a steal by Burch and a layup by Stan State's Riley Holladay tied the game once again, this time 71-71 with 12 seconds remaining in the fourth. A fast-break for the Nooks gave Skjold a good lane for the game-winning layup with six seconds left in the game.

Wilson led the Nanooks offense on Saturday, shooting 10-of-19 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line to tally 28 points on the day. The Thornton, Colorado native has posted 25-plus points in the last four games straight.  Furthermore, Wilson recorded six rebounds and one assist against the Warriors.

Skjold followed up Wilson's performance with a 17-point game of her own, while simultaneously collecting a game-high 10 rebounds for the day's only double-double, her fourth of the season. Skjold shot 6-of-13 from the field, 1-of-3 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, while also notching a team-high five assists and one steal.

The Nanooks shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26-of-56), 33.3 percent in three-point attempts (6-of-18) and 88.2 percent in free throw attempts (15-of-17). The Nooks tied the Warriors in scoring in the first and second quarter, but was outshot in the third quarter and rebuttled by outshooting Stan State 24-16 in the fourth. Alaska collected 16 points off of Stan State turnovers, three points in second chance attempts and 13 points from the bench.

Stan State was led by Burch, who posted a teamp0-high 28 points after shooting 9-of-15 from the field, 4-of-5 from behind the arc and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Burch collected the Warriors' team-high of six rebounds, while Holladay posted a team-best five assists.

The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team will play in the final day of the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational tomorrow, Nov. 26, as they face the Metro State University of Denver Roadrunners at 3pm AKST. The Newman University Jets will take on Stan State prior to the Nanooks' game at 1pm AKST. Both games will be played at the Alaska Airlines Court.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball team page on Facebook.