FAIRBANKS (Jan. 31) - Amber Nasby nailed a jumper with five seconds left Saturday to lift the UAA women's basketball team to a 57-55 victory over arch-rival Alaska Fairbanks at the Patty Center.
The Seawolves (8-10, 3-6 GNAC) won their second straight game behind 16 points and eight rebounds from Kamie Jo Massey, while Nasby scored 14 and Tanya Nizich added 13. UAF (6-11, 2-7) lost its 10th straight despite a game-high 18 points from guard Cecilia Chan.
UAA sent a crowd of 624 home disappointed by outshooting the Nanooks 49 percent to 33 percent from the field and winning the rebounding war 32-29.
The Seawolves held the Nanooks without a field goal for a 10-minute stretch in the first half as they jumped to a 37-19 halftime advantage. UAA went up 40-21 on Massey's three-pointer with 19:15 to play, but UAF then ran off 13 straight points to cut the lead to 40-34.
The Nanooks kept creeping closer until a Chan three-pointer tied it 54-54 with 57 seconds left. Massey split a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession, and UAF's Andrea Durny did the same for the Nanooks, making it 55-55 with 30 seconds to play.
Massey missed a jump shot with nine seconds left, but stole the rebound from Marsha Schirack and UAA called timeout. Nasby then took the inbounds pass from Massey and hit a fade-away shot from 16 feet with a defender in her face. UAF set up for a last shot but couldn't get a quality attempt before time ran out.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Seawolves in Fairbanks and improved their overall lead in the series to 43-26.
Point guard Jessica Reilly played a solid game with seven assists and just one turnover in a career-high 40 minutes. Senior center Mary Aschoff had her best performance of the season with four points, four rebounds and three blocks, playing 13 minutes off the bench.
UAA, which entered last weekend 10th of 10 teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, now finds itself alone in eighth place and just a game out of fourth.
The Seawolves host five of their last nine games at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, beginning with a Thursday showdown against second-place Saint Martin's (7:05 p.m.).
