FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team defeated the Converse College Valkyries 63-33. A strong second half secured the victory for the 'Nooks as they improved to 5-3, 0-0 GNAC and claimed their second win in the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational.
Strong defense was the big focus for Alaska tonight, holding Converse under 10 points in two of the four quarters, including holding them to a three-point second quarter. After a slow start on both sides ended in 9-7 Nanooks lead after the first quarter, the 'Nooks offense found its rhythm, blowing the lead to 19 heading into halftime.
Sabrina Ungaro led the attack on the offensive end in the second quarter, grabbing 10 of her game-high 15 points in the quarter.
After the 'Nooks took a 29-10 lead at halftime, the defense stood strong out of the break, outscoring the Valkyries 18-11, holding all Converse scorers under seven points. Bhrianna Jackson and Sierra Davenport led the way for Converse, both scoring six points.
Head coach
Kerri Nakamoto had this to say about her team's performance, "I think we started a little bit slow, but we were able to play pretty good defense which gave us the ability to take our time to get into our offensive flow. It's nice to walk away with another win and playing for the championship game tomorrow, we'll come back and prepare and be ready for tomorrow.
The Nanooks pulled away in the fourth quarter even more. After outscoring the Valkyries 18-11 in the third and 16-12 in the fourth, Alaska ended up winning the game 63-33, holding Converse to 18% shooting from the field and 12.5% from three-point range. The Nanooks beat CC on the offensive end by shooting 35.3% from the field and 30.4% from three-point range.
The Nanooks return tomorrow, Nov. 30 to face off with Lake Erie College, the other remaining undefeated team in the North Star Invitational. The championship game will begin at 3:00 p.m. AKT at the Patty Center.
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.
