By: Jamal Smith 
Sports editor

The Western Oregon women’s basketball team traveled to Alaska and inevitably fell to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) 55-75 on Saturday, Jan. 7.

The Wolves had two players score in double figures. Senior Michelle Bromagem (G) led the Wolves in scoring with 15 points on 5-10 shooting from the floor and went 3-6 from distance.

Sophomore Jasmine Miller (G/F) tallied 10 points on a perfect shooting night, shooting 5-5 from the floor.

Western got on the scoreboard first off with a Bromagem 3-pointer on the Wolves first possession of the game, but the Wolves went through a four minute scoring drought. The Nanooks took advantage of the Wolves’ cold stretch and scored 9 unanswered points.

UAF’s lead would balloon to a 16 point advantage with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter. The Wolves showed their never-say-die mentality and clawed their way back into the game, cutting Alaska’s lead to single digits at 30-38 going into half time.

In the third quarter, Western would again go cold from the floor. To make matters worse, UAF dropped 20 points in the quarter, and the Nanooks took a 58-41 lead into the final quarter.
UAF’s lead proved to be too much for the Wolves to come back from, and the fourth quarter played out like the rest of the game had.

The Wolves had a tough shooting night and finished the game shooting 0.396 from the floor and 0.222 from beyond the arch. Although Western outrebounded UAF 30-25, the Wolves committed 25 turnovers witch led to 27 UAF points.

The loss brings the Wolves overall record to 2-12 and 1-5 in GNAC conference play.

Next up, the Wolves host Montana State University of Billings at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16. The Yellow Jackets currently sit in second place in the GNAC with an overall record of 9-5 and 5-1 in GNAC conference play.

You can purchase tickets online or at the box office on game day.