FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team fell to the Western Washington Vikings on Saturday, Jan. 26 in the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium. With the loss, the Nanooks fall to 4-13, 1-9 GNAC on the season and WWU improved to 15-2, 9-1 GNAC.
The Nanooks hung tight with the #11/12-ranked Vikings in the first quarter. Each team shot over 50% from the field and 55% from three and after the opening 10 minutes of play, Alaska trailed WWU by only three at 27-24. Unfortunately a big second quarter by Western made it a 56-31 game at the half. Both offenses were slow in the second as the Vikings outscored Alaska only 14-13 before playing add-on with a 29-18 fourth quarter scoring advantage that led to the 99-62 victory in Fairbanks.
In the first quarter, the Nanooks went toe-to-toe with the top team in the GNAC. After falling behind by 13 in the opening minutes, the Nanooks came roaring back;
Destiny Reimers started the run with a jumper, cutting the lead to 11. After a pair of
Sam Tolliver free throws and
Ellen Silva's second bucket of the night, Reimers connected from deep, making it a four-point lead for the Vikings at 15-11. Western responded with a three of their own to make it 18-11 but
Emma McKenney answered with back-to-back threes, pulling Alaska within one with 3:18 left to play in the first. The Nanooks stayed in striking distance for the remainder of the quarter; after falling behind 22-17, McKenney connected from deep for a third time, making it 22-20 with less than two remaining. With 33 seconds remaining in the first,
Kayla Johnson hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 24-24 but Maddy Grandbois of Western hit a three with eight seconds left to give WWU a 27-24 lead after one.
The second was all Western. Their lead grew to 21 before the 'Nooks got on the board with an
Ellen Silva jumper, making it 45-26. Johnson followed up with a layup to cut the deficit to 17 but the Vikings lead grew to as much as 27 before
Destiny Reimers cut it to 25 heading into the locker room for halftime.
Out of the locker room, Johnson got the scoring started with a jumper, cutting the Western lead to 23, but Mason Oberg responded with a three. Brooke Walling followed with another, making it a 29-point lead. Western's lead grew to 30 with 5:26 remaining in the third before the 'Nooks ended the quarter on a small run.
Destiny Reimers answered with a jumper,
Ellen Silva hit two free throws,
Sam Tolliver knocked-down a free throw and
Jayda Van Dyke hit a pair. Despite trimming it down to a 24-point deficit, Avery Dykstra ended the third with an end-to-end dash and layup with only a second left on the clock, making it 70-44 after three. In the fourth, the Vikings grew their lead to 42 before the 'Nooks cut it back down to 37 before the final buzzer and final score of 99-62 WWU.
Emma McKenney and
Destiny Reimers led the way for Alaska as both ended the night with 11 points. McKenney finished the game going 4-8 from the floor and 3-6 from deep but only scored two points after posting a nine-point first quarter. Reimers added four assists and rebounds and tallied a block.
Ellen Silva posted a nine-point, nine-rebound night while also blocking a pair of shots and dishing an assist.
Alaska returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 28 against the Simon Fraser Red Leafs at 11:00 a.m. in the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball team page on Facebook.
