FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team fell to the Post Eagles on Friday, Nov. 25 in game one of the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational. The loss dropped the 'Nooks to 0-4, 0-0 GNAC. 
 
Alaska trailed Post by one after the first quarter, entering the second down only one at 23-22. Unfortunately, a 23-11 second quarter in favor of Post played the difference as the 'Nooks outscored their opponent 20-18 in the third and were outscored by only two, 18-16, in the fourth, eventually falling 82-69. 
 
In the first, Alaska outshot Post 52% to 45%, but one more field goal for the Eagles put them up by one after the opening 10. Post jumped out to a 5-2 lead before Emma McKenney knocked down a three, tying it at 5-5. The two teams traded leads early before Caitlin Pusich made it 13-10 'Nooks with 4:47 left on the clock in the first. Emma Wass followed up with a bucket, growing the lead to five. Down the stretch in the first, the 'Nooks maintained the five-point lead but three-straight buckets by Post gave them a 23-22 lead. Out of the break and into the second, the Eagles quickly grew their lead to six. A three-point play and another jumper by Ellen Silva cut the lead to one with 5:48 to play in the half, but the next two minutes were all Post as their lead shot up to nine. With 1:35 left, their lead grew to 11 before hitting 13 on a layup by Kiara Eubanks with only two seconds left on the clock. 
 
Post took a 46-33 lead into the locker room. 
 
Out of halftime, the Nanooks' deficit grew to 15 with less than seven minutes on the clock. Silva kickstarted a run to get them back within eight. After Silva's layup, Destiny Reimers scored and Kayla Johnson scored and completed a three-point play, making it 52-44 Post with five minutes remaining in the third. The Eagles stopped the run and eventually jumped ahead by 13 before taking an 11-point lead into the fourth. 
 
In the fourth, the 'Nooks quickly made it a single-digit deficit on a Reimers jumper, making it an eight-point game at 64-56, but eight was as close as they'd come in the fourth. Reimers posted a strong fourth quarter, pulling them within eight at the 6:36 mark and nine at the 5:54 mark before Pusich connected again from deep, making it an eight-point game with 2:37 to play, but Post withstood every momentum opportunity the 'Nooks had. Reimers found the bottom of the net from deep with 38 seconds remaining, making it a nine-point lead for the Eagles, but it was too late for a comeback; Post grabbed the 13-point win over the Nanooks. 
 
Reimers lead all scorers with 22 points on 9-13 shooting. She added five rebounds and four assists. Ellen Silva posted 16 points on 7-12 shooting and four rebounds, three assists and one block. McKenney ended with eight points and three rebounds while connecting from deep twice. 
 
The 'Nooks are back in action tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. against the Salem Tigers.
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball team page on Facebook.