ANCHORAGE ? Brittany Waddell came off the bench with 14 points to lead a balanced UC Riverside scoring effort Tuesday as the Highlanders topped Butler 65-53 in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout first round at Sullivan Arena.

UCR (1-3) advances to Wednesday's 5 p.m. AST title game against host school Alaska Anchorage while Butler (1-2) will play Air Force in the 2:30 p.m. for third place.

The Highlanders got 12 points apiece from starters Roney Friend, Amber Cox and Kemie Nekele as they shot 46 percent from the floor and were a perfect 12 of 12 from the free throw line.

Butler was led by a game-high 17 points (6-11 FG, 5-9 3FG) from guard Ellen Hamilton and 13 points and four assists from point guard Jackie Closser.

UCR grabbed a 30-24 halftime lead and went up 10 on a Waddell three-pointer four minutes into the second half. Butler would put together at run, however, to pull within 43-42 on a Hamilton trey at the 9-minute mark. Waddell (5-6 FG, 4-5 3FG) ? who had not scored a point in her team's first three games ? answered back with the decisive shot of the game at that point, nailing yet another three to fend off the charge.