PORTLAND, Ore. -- Junior Kaillee Skjold nearly played the role of hero on Saturday afternoon for the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team against Concordia University, by hitting a game-tying jumper with nine seconds to play, but the Cavaliers would travel the length of the court and get a put back basket as time expired to hand the Nooks a tough, 72-70, defeat.
The heartbreaking loss drops the Nanooks overall record to 10-14 this season, while they move to 5-9 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. For Concordia, they snap a four-game losing streak, as the Cavs improve to 5-17 on the year and 3-11 in GNAC games.
"Concordia played hard all game and did everything they could to take away our inside game," said head coach Cody Bench after the game. "It was a good game, both teams played well, but they had three more possessions down the stretch with our turnovers, which ultimately was the difference in the game."
It was a tight contest throughout the afternoon, as the teams battled through 12 ties and eight lead changes. Neither squad could garner more than a five-point advantage on the day. Alaska trailed by four, 68-64, with 3:04 remaining in the game, but a pair of Jordan Wilson layups knotted the game up at 68-all with 1:15 remaining.
Concordia converted on its next possession to retake the lead with 51 seconds left in the game. Arinesha Smith attempted to give Alaska the advantage with a 3-pointer with 27 ticks left, however her shot would fall short, but junior Autumn Childers crashed the glass and grabbed the offensive rebound to give the Nanooks a second chance to tie or take the lead.
After timeout, Skjold got a pass from Jordan Wilson on the elbow and pulled up from 15 feet and sank a jumper to tie the game at 70-70 with nine seconds remaining.
The Cavaliers drove the length of the court after Skjold's shot and Danielle Hartzog fired a 3-point attempt with three seconds left. Her shot failed to find the bottom of the net, but Nakiyah LeSure grabbed Hartzog's miss and connected on a layup as time expired to hand Alaska a gut-wrenching two-point defeat.
LeSure's game-winning shot spoiled one of the most productive offensive outings for the Nanooks in recent games. Alaska had four players score in double figures on Saturday afternoon and shot 46.4 percent from the field en route to the 70-point outing. Â Saturday's field goal percentage and point total were the highest for the Nooks over the last eight games.
Mays led the way for Alaska, with a 21-point outing. The junior sharpshooter went 4-of-8 from behind the arc to post her sixth 20-plus point effort of the season. Wilson followed up with a 16-point performance to push her double-digit scoring streak to a league-best 22 games. Wilson again moved up on the program's all-time scorers list on Saturday, as she is now 15th with 1,119 points, passing Amy Woodruff's (1998-2002) pervious total of 1,105.
Skjold added 14 points in the loss and pulled down a game-best eight rebounds, while Childers enjoyed her second-straight double-digit outing with 10 points.
Alaska handed out 16 assists on the night, as three players passed out three-or-more helpers. Wilson led the way with four, while Smith and Childers each collected three.
The Nanooks return home next week to open a brief two-game home stand against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene. The Nooks open with CWU on Thursday, Feb. 11. Tip-off from the Alaska Airlines Court is schedule for 7 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.
