BURNABY, B.C. - The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team is headed to British Columbia, Canada for a matchup with Simon Fraser on Saturday, Feb. 19. This comes after their game at Western Washington was canceled due to health concerns. 

Saturday, Feb. 19 at Simon Fraser
Live Video >> https://bit.ly/34SuXSf 
Live Stats >> https://bit.ly/3LKCL97
West Gymnasium, 6:00 p.m., Burnaby, B.C. (Canada)

Last Time Out
2/12/22 vs. UAA - After a back-and-forth start to the game, UAA pulled away in the first quarter, going up by 10. Their run continued through the second as they took a 14-point advantage into the locker room. That did not hold back the 'Nooks. Following a low-scoring affair in the third on both ends of the court, the Nanooks battled back in the fourth. Despite their best efforts and some hot shooting down the stretch, Alaska fell to the Seawolves 74-62.

Caitlin Pusich got the Nanooks an early 7-4 lead only three minutes in, connecting on her first bucket of the night. After taking an early lead, the Seawolves battled back to take a one-point lead. They'd stretch it to four before the 'Nooks responded with four-straight, tying it back up at 11-11. Anchorage took the lead back and extended it to nine with just over two minutes remaining. That lead grew to a dozen before settling at 10 to end the first. Pearle Green opened up the second quarter, hitting a three to give her seven points at the 9:31 mark of the second. That pulled Alaska back to seven before UAA hit another gear and ran ahead by 17.

Just before the break, the Nanooks managed to cut it to 11 before a Voliva three for UAA made it 14 heading into halftime. 

At the break, Ellen Silva led the way for the Nanooks, scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds. Pearle Green added seven of her own on 3-5 shooting and a three-pointer. 

To open the second-half, there was one bucket made in the opening 2:25. A Pusich three made it 47-34 UAA, scoring one-third of the Nanooks third-quarter points. Destiny Reimersmade a driving layup with 4:57 remaining and Emma Wassconnected on two free-throws to make it 55-40 with 4:09 remaining. UAA ended the quarter up 18. The Nanooks had one last push in them; to open the fourth, Alaska pulled within seven on a Claudia Diez Marti layup for her eighth point of the night. They hovered around a 10-point deficit for the next few minutes, but after making it eight, the Seawolves connected on five-straight possessions, making it a 12-point win in the end. 

Pusich ended up leading the way for the Nanooks with 12 points on four three-pointers. She also grabbed three rebounds. Diez Marti ended with 11, Green ended with 10 and Silva ended with eight points and a career-high 14 rebounds, including 11 in the second half. 

Quick Hitters

• The Nanooks are looking for their second win of the GNAC conference schedule.
• Destiny Reimers is leading the way in rebounds, grabbing 6.4 per game. 
• Olivia Kraska follows with 5.6 boards per game. Kraska is one of three Nanooks with a 40%+ shooting percentage. The sophomore is shooting 41.6% from the floor.
• As a team, the Nanooks are shooting 36% from the floor. Emma Wass, through 16 games, is shooting 56.9% from the floor (29-51).
• The 'Nooks are averaging 14.1 assists per game and are led by Paola Perez-Mendoza. The freshman is averaging 3.8 per game. She checks in at 83rd in NCAA DII.
• Pearle Green is fifth in the NCAA DII with 3.22 made three-point field goals per game. She leads the GNAC in that stat category. 
• Ellen Silva finds herself 95th in DII with 1.22 blocks per game. This puts her fourth in the GNAC.
• Destiny Reimers is seventh in the GNAC in defensive rebounds per game as the freshman is averaging 4.8 per game. 
• The 'Nooks are 83rd in DII for blocks shots per game with 3.4.

Scouting the Opponents
Simon Fraser comes into tomorrow's game at 10-12, 6-7 GNAC and riding a one-game slide. They fell to the UAA Seawolves on Thursday, Feb. 17, 55-76. They were coming off of back-to-back wins over Northwest Nazarene on Feb. 12 at NNU and Feb. 15 against NNU in Burnaby. SFU is led by Jessica Jones. Through 12 games, she's scored 16.3 points per game. She posted 14, 22 and 16 against NNU and UAA. Jones is also picking up 3.1 assists per game, 5.8 rebounds per game and 1.9 steals per game. Jessica Wisotzki is the second-highest scorer for SFU, posting 15.8 points per game, the only other SFU player in double-digits. She is grabbing 3.8 rebounds per game.

Simon Fraser is the top distributing team in the GNAC and 24th in DII with 16.3 assists per game. They also cracked the top-50 for both attempted three-pointers and three-pointers made per game. They're hoisting 543 on the season and are making 7.5 threes per game. 

GNAC Standings (PRS)

1. Western Washington - 4.11
2. Alaska Anchorage - 4.00
3. Central Washington - 3.88
4. Montana State Billings - 3.75
5. Northwest Nazarene - 3.42
6. Simon Fraser - 3.05
7. Seattle Pacific - 2.92
8. Western Oregon - 2.69
9. Saint Martin's - 2.25
10. Alaska - 2.23

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.