FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Senior forward Jordan Wilson recorded 23 points and senior guard Jaylee Mays drained 5-of-9 three-point buckets on Saturday night, but it wasn't enough for the Nanooks to complete the comeback over the Simon Fraser Clan, falling 79-77 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the Alaska Airlines Court. The Nooks post a losing record for the first time this season, dropped to 4-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play, while the Clan improves to 9-2 overall, 1-1 in GNAC competition.
"The senior played exceptional tonight, we couldn't ask for anything else. We got completed thumped on Thursday and it was hard to say which team was going to come out tonight, and for a quarter and half, I thought we were close to rolling over and these seniors stepped up and played exceptionally well," head coach Cody Bench said following Saturday's game. "We get such good consistency from Jordan's scoring so when we have nights where we get huge contributions from Autumn, Victoria and Jaylee on a consistent basis, it will help us be in more games."
Wilson shot 7-of-14 from the floor and made 9-of-10 baskets from the free throw line to post her ninth-straight double-digit game with 23 points, which was the game-high. Wilson collected a team-high seven rebounds on the night, including six offensively, while also dishing two assists and two steals.
Mays' 19 points came from shooting 5-of-9 from behind the arc and draining 2-of-2 free throws for one her best shooting nights of the season. Mays led all players on the night with four steals, while also collecting three rebounds and one assist.
"She obviously hustles and she never gets tired, so I like that she comes off the bench because she's a spark that's really hard to guard," Bench said of Mays. "Tonight, I felt like she was the one to go with."
Senior guard Autumn Childers shot 4-of-10 from the floor and tallied 4-of-4 from the free throw line for 13 points on the night, while fellow-senior Kaillee Skjold posted 11 points on the night. Senior guard Victoria Milton continues to be the play-maker of the team, leading all players with five assists.
As a team, Alaska shot 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the floor, 47.1 percent in three-point attempts (8-of-17) and 86.4 percent from the free throw line (19-of-22) against the Clan. SFU edged out the Nooks in points off of turnovers (22-20), second chance points (18-9) and bench points (14-6), but it was the Nooks who overcame an 18-point deficit in the second quarter to tie the clan on four separate occasions and taking the lead twice throughout the game.
Simon Fraser shot 30-of-63 (47.6%) from the field, 8-of-24 from behind the arc (33.3%) and 11-of-16 (68.8) from the free throw line, while edging the Nooks in total rebounds with 34. Tia Tsang led the Clan with 16 points, while three others contributed double-digit scoring.
The Alaska Nanooks will remain at home this week, as they host in-state rival Alaska Anchorage in a single-game conference matchup on Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Alaska Airlines Court. Tip-off is scheduled for 2pm AKST.
"We talked about it in the locker room. We need to be a team that competes, plays consistently and comes out with a lot of energy so that we're not wasting so much time trying to come back from large deficits," Bench concluded. "You know, we had to fight that whole 40 minutes and we might not have had to fight as hard, had we not gone down so much early on. So that's our expectations going into next Saturday."
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.
