FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team was defeated 62-88 by Northwest Nazarene University. This loss brings the team to 6-8 and gives them their fourth consecutive conference loss putting them at 1-4 in GNAC play.
"We need to take better care of the ball. We had 14 turnovers it's hard to win when you have a lot of turnovers", head coach
Kerri Nakamoto remarks on her team's first half efforts. The Nanooks faced a tough 10-3 Northwest Nazarene whose full court press and transition offense proved to be more than a match. The 'Nooks held their ground defensively in the first two quarters and the Nighthawks held a narrow 33-27 lead at halftime.
After the break Northwest Nazarene came out hot, shooting 8-16 from the field and 9-13 from the free throw line. This would lead to the Nighthawks boasting a 19-point lead, 60-41, with 1:31 left in the third quarter.
Kylie Wallace would hit a pair of free throws and
Sabrina Ungaro nailed a three-pointer in the last minute to make it a 60-46 game at the end of the third. The fourth quarter was much of the same for the 'Nooks, as their opposition would increase their lead to 27 points with 4:24 remining in the fourth quarter. The team would respond with a 9-0 run to slim the deficit to 16, 62-78, with 3:02 remaining in the fourth. The final score of the game was 88-62 in favor of Northwest Nazarene.
Sabrina Ungaro led the team in scoring with 15 points, going 4-7 from behind the arc. She also led in assists and steals, with four assists and three steals.
Jocelyn Gandara led in rebounds with seven.
Alaska struggled offensively as the team's and the GNAC's leading scorer,
Jocelyn Gandara, got in foul trouble early, which cut her minutes down to just 15 minutes total. This affected her scoring, as she went 0-4 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line. The team also had 25 turnovers which resulted in 34 point off turnovers for their opposition. The Nanooks shot 19-56 from the field, 12-28 from the three-point line, and 12-18 from the charity stripe.
The team will be back in action this Saturday, Jan. 11, against Central Washington University at 12 P.M. AKST.
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.
