ANCHORAGE (Jan. 3) - Center Bell Jordan scored 16 or her game-high 24 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough to rescue the UAA women's basketball team from a 16-point halftime deficit as Saint Martin's beat the Seawolves 79-74 at the Sports Center tonight.

UAA (4-8, 0-3 GNAC) got within three points on three occasions in the second half, but Saint Martin's (5-6, 1-2) kept getting big baskets from point guard Lisa Bocook, whose 21 points led her team.

Jordan, a senior from Stockton, Calif., recorded her sixth double-double of the season, while freshman teammate Jen Stoddard had 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to notch her fourth double-double.

UAA played well, committing 17 turnovers with 19 assists, but couldn't overcome the torrid early shooting of Saint Martin's, which nailed 54.5 percent (18-33) of its shots in the first half.

The Saints gained their biggest lead a 50-32 just one minute into the second half before UAA went on a 22-7 run to make it 57-54 with 9:09 remaining. The run was keyed by three baskets from Stoddard and two three-pointers by senior guard Diana Gundersen.

But despite shooting only 23.3 percent (7-30) in the second half, the Saints managed to maintain their lead by going to the foul line 33 times, converting 19.

Sophomore guard Tanya Nizich hit her first four shots for UAA and finished with 14 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting. The Juneau-Douglas product also had a career-best three blocks.

Freshman point guard Jessica Reilly had a career-best five steals in 36 minutes.

The Seawolves shoot again for their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory when they play Northwest Nazarene at the Sports Center on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m.