FAIRBANKS ? Spearheaded by another stellar defensive effort, the 9th-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team rolled to its third straight win with a 61-46 decision over arch-rival Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday.
Junior center Rebecca Kielpinski led the Seawolves (17-2, 6-1 GNAC) with 14 points and season-highs 16 of rebounds and six blocks, while senior forward Maria Nilsson and junior guard Danielle Dekel tallied 12 points apiece.
UAF's Sheena Brown scored 28 of her 30 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough as the Nanooks (8-7, 1-6) were faced a 35-9 halftime deficit. The Seawolves held their hosts to 10 percent shooting (3 of 30) in the opening 20 minutes to set the record for the fewest points allowed in the first half of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.
UAA took leads of 10-0 and 22-3 as it snapped a 4-game losing streak to the Nanooks at the Patty Center. UAF got within 48-36 at the 8:22 mark before UAA responded with a 6-0 run to effectively seal it.
Kielpinski shot 7 of 9 from the field and grabbed all 16 of her rebounds on the defensive end. The junior from Mandan, N.D., also achieved a pair of milestones in the victory, moving past Eva Robinson (1,162, 1979-81) for No. 6 on UAA's career scoring list (1,167) and surpassing Heidi Alderman (724, 1992-96) for No. 3 on the career rebounding list. With 735 boards, she is just 30 shy of Wendy Sturgis' school record, set from 1988-92.
Meanwhile, the Seawolves got major backcourt contributions from Dekel, who shot 4 of 6 on three-pointers for a career-high point total, and junior guard Elisha Harris, who had her strongest all-around performance of the season with nine points (4-8 FG) and five rebounds.
Senior guard Kalhie Quinones paced the Seawolves with six assists and grabbed seven rebounds, and junior forward Lillie Parks had six points.
UAA outshot the Nanooks 50 percent to 23 percent overall and won the rebounding battle 45-32. UAF managed only two assists on the night.
The Seawolves continued a 3-game road swing when they visit Western Washington on Thursday (4:30 p.m. AST) in Bellingham, Wash.
