ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team fell to CWU on Thursday, Feb. 9. They fell behind big in the third quarter, and the deficit was too much as they fell 88-63, dropping to 4-16, 1-12 GNAC on the season. 

The Wildcats jumped out to a 21-13 lead after the opening quarter. However, the 'Nooks battled in the second after going down as much as 20. Sam Tolliver hit three straight three-pointers to cut the lead to just nine, 42-33. CWU hit one more basket to go up 11 at the half, 44-33. Out of the break, Alaska was outscored by the Wildcats 27-19 in the third before grabbing the 25-point win. 

Kayla Johnson opened up the scoring and gave the 'Nooks an early lead. Emma Wass and Olivia Kraska had early responses, keeping the game tied, 6-6, at the 5:19 mark in the first. However, a 15-7 Wildcats run to end the first would prove insurmountable. In the second, the lead ballooned to 20 before a Wass layup followed by three-straight threes by Sam Tolliver cut the Wildcat lead to just single-digits. A jumper in the waning seconds of the half would push the deficit back to 11. 

Out of the break, the Nanooks kept the deficit steady before another Wass and Tolliver run cut the CWU lead to just eight, 55-47, at the 3:13 mark of the third. An immediate response by CWU saw the deficit swell to 19 at the end of the third. An 11-0 run by CWU to start the fourth put Alaska down 30. A 7-0 Alaska run got the lead back down to 23 before CWU closed out the game by 25. Sam Tolliver and Emma Wass both scored in double-figures for Alaska with 23 and 15. Tolliver was perfect from three, going 5-5. Wass tied her career-high in points while nearly having a double-double adding eight rebounds, and her first made three of the season. 

The Nanooks stay on the road with a matchup against Northwest Nazarene on Feb. 11. 

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.