NAMPA, Idaho ? Senior Maria Nilsson scored 15 points and junior Rebecca Kielpinski scored the winning basket with 2 minutes left as the 7th-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team escaped Thursday with a 52-50 victory over Northwest Nazarene at Johnson Sports Center.
The Seawolves (14-1, 3-0 GNAC) also got 10 points and eight rebounds from guard Kalhie Quinones to win for the first times in eight tries at NNU. The Crusaders (8-4, 1-2) were led by 14 points from guard Brittney Roggenkamp and nine points and eight rebounds from forward Nichole Schutte.
UAA led 22-20 at halftime and pushed its lead to 10 points when Kielpinski (8 points, 9 rebounds) sank a jumper with 10:52 to play. Roggenkamp heated up at that point, however, nailing three straight shots over the next two minutes to shrink UAA's advantage to 42-41.
The Seawolves stretched it to 50-43 with 5 minutes left before a 7-0 NNU spurt knotted the score with 3:24 left.
After a pair of turnovers by both teams, Kielpinski grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the eventual game-winning layup with 2:11 showing. The Crusaders missed three straight shots on their next two possessions, and UAA got the ball with 55 seconds left.
Danielle Dekel missed a three-pointer, but Kielpinski ? who played just 24 minutes due to foul trouble ? snagged another offensive board with 23 seconds left and the Crusaders were forced to foul. Dekel missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 8 seconds left, but the Seawolves survived when Kristin Hein (9 pts, 3-14 FG, 6 reb) missed a long jumper at the buzzer.
Nilsson hit four of her five three-pointers in the second half to account for game-high scoring honors on a night when her teammates struggled from the field. Junior forward Ashley Thompson, playing in her home state, accounted for six points (4-4 FT) and three rebounds.
UAA's 3-0 league start is its best in seven years of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play as it heads into Saturday's showdown at 6th-ranked Seattle Pacific (6 p.m. AST).
