FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team is back in action on the Alaska Airlines Court in the Patty Center after coming in second-place at the North Star Invitational last weekend. This week, the 'Nooks welcome the Western Oregon Wolves and Concordia Cavaliers and will play in the first-half of the double-header between the men and women.
| Opponents |
Western Oregon (2-4, 0-0 GNAC) | Concordia Cavaliers (1-7, 0-0 GNAC) |
| Location |
Alaska Airlines Court at the Patty Center – Fairbanks, Alaska |
| Dates & Times |
Thursday, Dec. 5
vs. Western Oregon Wolves at 5:15 p.m. AKT
Saturday, Dec. 7
vs. Concordia Cavaliers at 1:00 p.m. AKT |
| Follow Along |
Live Stream |
| Social Media |
Twitter | Facebook |
Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team is coming off of a successful North Star Invitational. While the 'Nooks did not claim first place, they did win two of three games, giving them more wins than last season only nine games in. In game one last week on Thanksgiving Day, the 'Nooks faced off with Chadron State and defeated the Eagles 87-73. On day two, Alaska ran away with the win over Converse College, 63-33.
On day three, the final day of the North Star Invitational, Alaska was 2-0 and ready to face the other 2-0 team, the Lake Erie Storm. After a back-and-forth first half, the Storm ran away from the Nanooks in the second half. Alaska fell to Lake Erie 76-84 as the Storm claimed the championship.
Leading Scorers
Jocelyn Gandara, the transfer-junior for the 'Nooks has made a name for herself around the GNAC. She is currently the second leading-scorer in the league, averaging 16.7 points per game through nine games played. She trails only Alexis Pana of CWU who is averaging 17.2 points per game. Freshman-standout
Sam Tolliver is close behind Gandara. Tolliver through nine games is averaging 15.2 points per game, the most by a freshman in the GNAC by over six points.
Scouting the Opponent
Western Oregon
Western Oregon comes up to Fairbanks with a 2-4, 0-0 GNAC record. They dropped their first game of the season to the Academy of Art 63-72. The Wolves then grabbed their only two wins of the season in their next two games. They first defeated Cal State, East Bay 65-49 followed by a win over Sonoma State 60-52. WOU is currently riding a three-game losing streak having lost to Chico State, Texas A&M International and Southwest Minnesota State.
WOU is led on offense by Shariah Green and Keyonna Jones. Green, the leading scorer between the two, is putting up 10.5 points per game while shooting 43.4% from the field and 46.7% from three. Jones is just behind her, averaging 9.3 points per game. Jones is shooting 34.5% from the field and 73.7% from the free throw line.
Concordia
The Concordia Cavaliers come to Fairbanks with a 1-7, 0-0 GNAC record. Their lone win came against Regis University, 76-65. The Cavs are currently on a three-game losing-streak, having lost to the Colorado School of Mines, Southwest Minnesota State and Point Loma Nazarene most recently.
Offensively, the Cavaliers are led by Olivia Vezaldenos who is averaging 13.5 points per game through their eight games. Vezaldenos is shooting 34.6 percent from the field and 34.9% from three-point range. The next leading scorer for the Concordia squad is Riley Friauf who is putting up 8.8 points per game while shooting 41.5% from the field and 61.9% from the free throw line.
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.
