FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team rolled off 28 fourth-quarter points, but their comeback bid would fall just short, as they were handed a 78-74 defeat by Northwest Nazarene at the Alaska Airlines Court on Saturday night in the #Play4Kay Game.
The loss snaps a tie for sixth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference between the two teams. Northwest Nazarene now holds sixth place all alone, as they are 7-9 in league play and 9-13 overall. For Alaska, they slip to seventh at 6-10 in the GNAC, and are now 11-14 overall on the year.
"Our game plan went well for three out of the four quarters tonight," said head coach Cody Bench. "We defended like we needed to. Unfortunately, in the third period (Northwest Nazarene) was able to drive on us at any point and they hit a lot of open shots that put us in a hole. We rallied, held some composure. I know we took three charges in the fourth quarter, so defensively we were doing what we could to stop them. They had a good shooting night, and they were hungry for a win."
The Nanooks found themselves down by 15 entering the final quarter of play, but they scored eight of the first 10 points of the fourth to pull within nine after a Kaillee Skjold jumper with 7:59 to play. The lead hovered around double digits for the Crusaders until the 5:27 mark when the Nooks went on a 14-6 run to pull within four points with 2:03 remaining in the contest.
Alaska had a chance to make it a one-point game with 1:11 remaining, but the Nanooks would miss a 3-point attempt in the corner. An offensive board by NNU allowed them a second chance on their next possession, and they ran 42 seconds off the game clock before getting a layup from Lexi Tubbs to go up six, 77-71, with 29 second remaining.
The Nanooks continued to battle, as junior Cassi Williams drilled her fourth 3-point basketball of the game to pull her team within three points, 77-74, with four seconds left. Northwest Nazarene's Kaitlyn Merritt hit 1-of-2 free throw attempts to seal the deal for the Crusaders on their next possession, as NNU picked up the four-point win.
Skjold led a trio of double-digit scorers for Alaska on Saturday, as she registered 19 points in the loss. The junior also tied for the team lead in rebounds, as her and Jordan Wilson each grabbed seven caroms apiece.
Williams came off the bench to provide a spark for Alaska, as she tallied a career-high 15 points, all of which came in the third and fourth quarters. Williams shot exceptionally well from behind the arc, as the sharpshooter hit four of her five 3-point field goal attempts, which accounted for half of the Nooks 3-point field goal makes on the night.
Senior Arinesha Smith followed with a 14-point performance, as she went 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Smith also added five assists, as Alaska collected 13 as a team.
Wilson scored only six points on the night, snapping her impressive 23-game double-digit scoring streak. The last time Wilson did not register double-digits in the scoring column came in the second game of the year back on Nov. 14 against Dixie State.
Alaska shot 37.9 percent from the field on Saturday, but were sparked by an even 50 percent (16-of-32) performance in the third and fourth quarters. The Nanooks outscored NNU, 29-18, in points off turnovers, as they forced 21 Crusader miscues. Juniors Autumn Childers and Jaylee Mays led the way with three steals apiece.
The Nooks hit the road for the final time during the 2015-16 season next week, as they take on Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's. The two-game GNAC roadie opens on Thursday, Feb. 18, at SPU. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter or like Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball on Facebook.
