ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team kicked-off the 2019-20 season with a nonconference victory on Saturday afternoon, defeating the San Francisco State Gators 71-66 in game one of the D2 West Coast Classic at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. The Nooks move to 1-0 on the season, while the Gators drop to 0-1.

"We did some really good things today for our first game of the season," second-year head coach Kerri Nakamoto said on Saturday. "We executed our game plan well and played hard. It was good for our new players to play against a tough, athletic, West Region team. We'll look to clean up some things for our game tomorrow against Chaminade." 

In her Nanook debut, junior transfer Jocelyn Gandara registered a game-high 20 points and team-best 11 rebounds to tally her first double-double in the Blue and Gold. The guard shot 7-for-17 from the floor, including 2-for-5 from beyond the arc, while also connecting on 4-of-6 free throws. The El Paso, Texas native pulled down one offensive and 10 defensive rebounds to tally 11 boards to lead her teammates. In 28 minutes on the floor, Ganadar also picked up two assists.

Freshman guard Sam Tolliver followed Gandara's performance with 17 points in her collegiate debut, shooting 4-for-18 from the field and leading all players on the court in free throws-made, going 8-for-13. The Seattle newcomer also posted five rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals in a team-best 37 minutes on the court.

Senior forward Kylie Wallace was the only other Nook to register double-digit points in Alaska's season-opener, going 6-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free throw line to pick up 14 points. Wallace also pulled down four offensive and four defensive boards for eight total on the day.

Junior guard Zosha Krupa and redshirt-senior guard Sabrina Ungaro tied for a team-best four assists each.

The Nooks' offense was noticeable early, as Alaska outscored their opponent 17-11 in the first quarter, followed by 21-12 in the second. Despite being outscored by San Francisco State 43-33 in the second half of play, Alaska was able to hold on for their first victory of the season.

Alaska shot 34.7 percent from the floor (25-for-72), 24 percent from beyond the arc (6-for-25) and 65.2 percent from the free throw line (15-for-23). Of the Nanooks' 11-player roster, each saw time on the court on Saturday.

The Nanooks will take on the Chaminade Silverswords in their final game of the D2 West Coast Classic on Sunday, Nov. 10 at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. Tip-off is set for 12:00 p.m. AKT.

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.