MONMOUTH, Ore. - Despite leading for most of their game against the Western Oregon Wolves, the Nanooks women's basketball team could not hold on late, falling to WOU 77-76 to end their season.

How it Happened
Miranda Lomax opened the contest by hitting two quick three-pointers to give Alaska a 6-4 lead. Her second three would kickstart an 18-0 run for the Nanooks, with Jayda Van Dyke adding a pair of threes and Emily Freeman connecting once from beyond the arc during the run. The Wolves would score the final five points of the quarter, but the 'Nooks took a 21-9 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

In the second quarter, Lomax started the scoring for Alaska like she started the first, hitting a three to build the Nanooks' advantage to 14 points. She added a layup on the following possession, but the 'Nooks struggled to get things going after that, allowing 13 unanswered points to the Wolves, which saw their lead shrink to three. Van Dyke ended the run by hitting a jumper, and Taylor Tiulana followed by draining four threes in the final 4:12 of the quarter. She scored 12 of Alaska's final 14 points of the quarter and helped them take a 42-36 lead into the halftime break.

Lomax once again got the scoring started for the Nanooks in the third, knocking down a triple after four straight Wolves points. WOU would score four more points without a Nanooks response to cut Alaska's lead to one before Lomax connected from deep again to put them ahead 48-44. However, Western Oregon took the lead less than a minute later on an Enid Vaifanua jumper. Bobbi Clark helped the Blue & Gold regain the lead with a jumper and added a put-back layup to build its advantage to five. Alaska kept hold of the lead for the rest of the quarter, but WOU would bring it to within two entering the final 10 minutes of action.

The Nanooks went nearly three minutes into the final quarter before scoring their first points, allowing the Wolves to go on an 8-0 run to put themselves in front 62-56. Van Dyke hit a three to get the 'Nooks on the board at the 7:03 mark and Lomax followed by knocking down a layup and a three-pointer to tie the game at 64. The two sides traded the next five baskets, and with 3:14 remaining, Alaska found itself trailing 70-68. Neither team scored for the next 2:15, with Western Oregon's Natalie Brown ending the scoring drought with a put-back bucket. A Taylor Pilot triple made it a one-point contest with 44 seconds to go, but the Wolves ended the game at the free-throw line, converting five attempts from the charity stripe to put the game out of reach. Van Dyke sank a half-court buzzer-beater to end the game, but Alaska fell by one.

Inside the Numbers

• Miranda Lomax posted a game-high 24 points on 9-19 shooting. She went 6-12 from beyond the arc while collecting six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
• Jayda Van Dyke scored a career-high 18 points in the game, going 6-10 from the floor and 4-6 from three. She also grabbed seven rebounds.
• Taylor Tiulana was the final Nanook to crack double-digit scoring, finishing with a season-high 12 points while going 4-8 from deep.
• Taylor Pilot dished a team-high eight assists. She also paced the squad with two steals.
• The Nanooks matched their season high in three-pointers with 16 makes on the day. They shot 16-40 (40%) from three.
• They went 28-70 (40%) from the floor while converting all four attempts from the free-throw line.
• Alaska got 40 points off the bench compared to 15 for Western Oregon. However, they trailed 20-7 in points off turnovers, 22-17 in second-chance points and 36-22 in points in the paint.
• The game saw six lead changes and five ties, with the Blue & Gold holding the lead for 27:55.
• The 'Nooks were outrebounded 50-40 and 23-13 on the offensive glass.

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