By GUY PERRIN Freelancer
The women’s basketball team hosted the Alaskan schools this past weekend and came up just short in both games. The Wolves encountered the No. 7 ranked team in the country, Alaska Anchorage University, Thursday, Jan. 8, without forward Dana Goularte, the team’s leading player in scoring (16.2 points per game) and rebounding (10.7 rebounds per game).
While the Wolves would eventually lose 61-79, they fought to remain within striking distance for much of the game, as well as out-rebound the No. 1 ranked rebounding team in the conference 36-34.
Guards Jordan Mottershaw and Katie Goddard picked up the scoring duties in Goularte’s absence, scoring 17 and 16 points respectively while forward Angie Titus held down the paint with a game-high eight rebounds.
It wasn’t enough, however, as the Seawolves (14-1, 4-1 GNAC) pressured the Wolves into 26 turnovers, which they converted into 30 points to pull away for the
victory.
Megan Mullings and Jenna Buchanan were the only players in double figures for Alaska Anchorage, with Mullings leading all scorers with 19 points and Buchanan chipping in with 15 points off the bench.
Despite the lack of double digit scorers, Alaska Anchorage used a deep, balanced attack as nine players played at least 15 minutes, with all of them contributing on the scoring sheet.
Saturday, Jan. 10, the Wolves (4-9, 1-4 GNAC) hosted the University of Alaska in a hotly contested battle in which both teams used large scoring runs to swing momentum back and forth for the duration of the game. The Nanooks (12-4, 4-2 GNAC) pulled away at the end with a string of clutch free throw shooting to ice the game.
The Nanooks came out of the first media timeout and rattled off unanswered scoring runs of 10 and seven points to take a commanding 25-11 lead midway through the first half. The lead would later grow to 15 points before the Wolves settled in and opened up a scoring run of their own, closing the half 11-1 to cut the lead to 37-32 and carry momentum into the break.
The Nanooks, however, erupted for 14 unanswered points to start the second half, opening up their biggest lead of the game of 19 points. Though the Wolves were able to recover and fight back, outscoring the Nanooks by 14 over the next 13 minutes to come within five points with just over two minutes to play, it was too little too late as Alaska was able to hit seven of their last eight free throws to put the game away.
The Wolves got surprise contributions off the bench from guards Shyla Atkins and Sami Osborne, with Atkins providing 12 points and Osborne leading the team in points (14) and rebounds (12).
The Wolves played an excellent 3-point defense, forcing the Nanooks into eight percent shooting from behind the arc; however, the team struggled without Goularte’s inside presence, allowing the Nanooks to outscore them in points in the paint 48-32.
The Wolves traveled north Thursday, Jan. 15, to play Western Washington, who’ve won the past three games. The team then travels across the Canadian border to battle the Simon Fraser Clan on Saturday, Jan. 17.
