FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team fell to the Western Washington Vikings on their home-court on Saturday, Jan. 22. The Vikings used a big first quarter to run away with a 79-67 victory.
The Nanooks moved to 1-10, 0-6 GNAC on the season after battling the #11 Vikings. After falling behind by 16 in the first quarter, the Nanooks answered with a big second quarter, cutting the lead to seven at the break. After a high-scoring third quarter the Vikings pulled away with a 20-17 fourth.
In the first quarter, the Nanooks needed two minutes to grab their first bucket of the game. WWU jumped ahead 2-0 before
Pearle Green connected on a turnaround jumper from just within the three-point line. WWU used a pair of free throws and a three from Emma Duff to quickly extend their lead to five.
Olivia Kraska answered with a pair of buckets to pull Alaska back within three at 11-8, but the Vikings turned the momentum shift around and went on a 13-0 run to make it 24-8 before the end of the quarter.
The second quarter was a swing-quarter for Alaska as their offense came alive. They outshot WWU on the floor 40% to 25% and outscored the Vikings 20-11, pulling within seven at the break. They were led by six and five points from
Paola Perez-Mendoza and
Claudia Diez Marti. They also forced 10 turnovers and collected four steals.
Heading into the third, the Nanooks were able to pull within three off of
Pearle Green three-pointer near the midway point of the quarter. This big shot forced WWU to take a timeout and regroup. WWU maintained their lead the rest of the quarter, but Alaska stayed in striking distance heading to the fourth. Unfortunately, the Vikings used an early offensive-attack in the fourth to push ahead by 14. That lead grew into 16 and the 'Nooks were not able to get it back to single-digits as Western grabbed the win 79-67.
Claudia Diez Marti led the way for women's basketball, posting 15 points and grabbing a steal. Both
Olivia Kraska and
Paola Perez-Mendoza scored a dozen points. Kraska finished with three rebounds and one steal while Perez-Mendoza grabbed four steals and had six assists with two rebounds. Green was the final Nanooks in double-digits with 11, three rebounds and two assists.
The Nanooks hit the road next week. They'll take on Seattle Pacific on Thursday, Jan. 27 and Montana State Billings on Jan. 29-30.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter, @NanookWBB on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball team page on Facebook.
