FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought exhibition contest on Tuesday night, falling to the No. 3 Oregon Ducks, an NCAA Division I program, 115-35 in front of a sold out crowd of 1603 at the Alaska Airlines Court.
"I think we played really hard tonight. We obviously have some things to work on but I think we did some things really well," first-year head coach
Kerri Nakamoto said on Tuesday. "We had some open shots, and yes, I think we rushed a little bit early on but we did execute some of the things we planned on working on tonight. We're hopeful that when we're not playing the number three team in the country, everything will be a little bit more effective."
As a team, the Nanooks shot 27.1 percent from the floor, going 13-for-48. The Nooks went 6-for-20 from beyond the arc for 30 percent before shooting 80 percent from the free throw line (4-for-5). Alaska also tallied five offensive and 11 defensive boards for a total of 16 rebounds against the Ducks, while also picking up 12 assists and three steals.
The Nanooks had two players post double-digit points on Tuesday, led by senior guard
Emily Evans who collected 12 points on the night. Evans shot 4-for-9 from the field, with each of her four buckets coming from behind the three-point line. Evans also chipped in three assists and one rebound in her team-high 29 minutes on the court.
Senior forward
Marian Wamsley followed closely behind with a 10-point night, going 5-for-5 from the field. Wamsley also led the Nanooks with six rebounds, while also registering one assist in 27 minutes.
Junior forward
Kylie Wallace picked up three assists to tie Evans for the team-high.
On the other end of the court, Oregon had six players with double-digit points, led by Satou Sabally with 21. Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu posted a triple-double on Tuesday, collecting 18 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in a game-high 31 minutes on the floor.
Oregon's junior forward Ruthy Hebard was welcomed back to her hometown of Fairbanks with a roaring applause from the sold out crowd. Hebard, who was born in raised in the Golden Heart City and played her entire high school career for Alaska women's basketball assistant coach
Jessie Craig at West Valley, posted 17 points on the night with two rebounds, two blocks, two steals and one assist.
The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team officially kicks-off the 2018-19 season this Saturday, Nov. 10 at the Gator Invitational in San Francisco, California, taking on the San Francisco State Gators at 2pm AKST at The Swamp at the Don Nessar Family Arena.
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.
