FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- On Saturday night, junior Jordan Wilson became the first Alaska Nanooks women's basketball player to win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference scoring title in 11 seasons, as she hit her season average of 17 points against Western Washington, but it would not be enough for the Nooks to get past a hot-shooting Vikings team, as they fell, 99-54, in the 2015-16 regular season finale at the Alaska Airlines Court.
Wilson was the lone Alaska player to score double digits on Saturday, as she hit eight of her 11 attempts. The junior is just the third player in program history to lead the GNAC in scoring, as she joins her head coach Cody Bench, who accomplished the feat in both 2002-03 and 2004-05 seasons, and Adrinenne Taalak who did it during the 2003-04 campaign. The 17-point outing was Wilson's fourth-straight double-digit scoring performance, and it was her 28th game in double figures this season.
The Nanooks conclude the year with a 12-18 mark overall and 7-13 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The seven conference wins is also a one-game improvement over last year's squad, and is the most GNAC wins in a season since the '04-05 season. Alaska also finishes the year at 8-7 at home, marking its first winning season on the Alaska Airlines Court since 2003-04.
The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team said farewell to four seniors on Saturday, as Brianna Kirk, Heidi Pichler, Arinesha Smith and Stephanie Toumson played their final game in an Alaska uniform. Smith led the seniors with six points, while Kirk had four points. Pichler failed to score in her final collegiate game, but she did account for an assists. Toumson, whose season ended at Western Washington on Dec. 3, continues to rehab, but was honored in front of the 332 fans who came to watch the final women's basketball game of the year.
"It's always sad to see your seniors go and I tried to give them all an opportunity to compete and play tonight," said head coach Cody Bench. "We were playing our normal game in the first two quarters of play, but in the third and fourth (Western Washington) were shooting on fire. This was an important game for them in terms of conference tournament seeding, and they were fired up for that. Give them credit, they're a good shooting team and we just weren't able to keep up."
Western Washington hit an astounding 58 percent from the field on Saturday, and was even more efficient in the third and fourth quarters, as they shot 63.9 percent. The Vikings were led by Kiana Gandy's 23-point performance, while Emily Peacocke, who finishes second to Wilson in the GNAC in scoring, finished with 21.
Rebounding was the big difference in the game, as Alaska was outrebounded, 46-21. The Vikings advantage on the glass led to a 16-4 edge in second-chance points. The Nanooks only committed 12 turnovers on the night, but WWU took advantage of every single Nooks miscue, as they scored 22 points off turnovers.
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