MONMOUTH, Ore. -- The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team scored a total of 43 points in the second half to complete a double-digit comeback and defeat Western Oregon, 62-61, to pick up their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference road win of the season.
The win improves Alaska's GNAC record to 5-8, while it also pushes the team's regular season record to 10-13. Tonight's win marks the first time in eight seasons that the Nanooks have won double-digit games in back-to-back seasons, as last year's squad finished 14-14. Alaska also completes the season sweep of Western Oregon, who falls to 3-18 overall and 2-11 in the conference, for the second-straight season.
"We went into the break down by 11, but defensively I thought we were where we needed to be," said head coach Cody Bench. "We talked about making better decisions on offense in the locker room, and made a couple of adjustments that got us some baskets in the first few minutes of the third quarter, which really turned the game around. Autumn Childers had a big offensive game for us, she hit two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and Jaylee Mays really helped create some scoring opportunities for us when things weren't working down low. We played more like the team we are in the second half and I'm glad these girls stuck it out until the end."
Trailing, 30-19, at the break, Alaska used a 14-6 run out of the locker room to pull within three, 36-33, after a Childers jumper at the 5:20 mark. Western Oregon would regroup and pushed its advantage to seven points just two minutes later at 40-33. The Nooks continued to battle and tied the game at 40-all after a Kaillee Skjold jumper to cap off a 7-0 run to end the third quarter.
The battle ensued onto the fourth, and a Childers 3-point basket with 7:22 remaining gave Alaska its first lead since midway through the first quarter at 47-45. The Wolves responded with a 5-0 run to retake a three-point lead, but the Nooks countered with an 8-0 spurt of their own to go up a game-high five points with 2:45 remaining.
Alaska maintained its lead for the remainder of the game, thanks in large part by going 6-of-6 at the charity stripe in the final 44 seconds of the game. The Nooks would need all six free throws, as the Wolves continued to battle back. Mays hit both of her free throw attempts with six seconds remaining to put the Nanooks up by four points, and that would prove vital, as WOU hit a 3-point field at the buzzer to give the Nooks a one-point victory.
"Free throws won the game," expressed Bench. "It came to a point where we had no room for error, we had to hit our free throws. By hitting all six, we got the exact lead that we needed to get this win."
The Nanooks had four players score double-digits on Thursday night, led by Skjold's 14-point performance. Senior Arinesha Smith followed with 13 points, while junior Jordan Wilson captured 11. Childers scored 10 points to give the forward her third double-figuring scoring game of the season.
For Wilson, tonight's 11-point performance extends her double-digit scoring streak to a league-best 21 games. She also moved up to No. 16 on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,103 points, passing Coach Bench's mark of 1,100 points.
"I'm really happy for her," said Bench of Wilson's feat. "She works really hard and has overcome a lot of adversity with her size in this conference. She has been impressive since day one and I've really enjoyed coaching her."
The Nanooks look to end their three-game road trip on a positive note, as they look for the weekend GNAC sweep on Saturday afternoon with a contest at Concordia. Tip-off from Portland is set for 1 p.m. AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter or like Alaska Nanooks Women's Hoops on Facebook.
