ANCHORAGE ? Junior forward Nicci Miller led a balanced scoring effort with 14 points as the 4th-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team cruised to an 80-45 victory over Mansfield at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex on Sunday night.
UAA (8-1) ? coming off a 17-day layoff ? shot a season-best 54.1 percent from the floor to win its sixth in a row overall and 10th straight at home.
Mansfield (3-3), of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, was led by nine points from guard Courtney Brooks. The Mountaineers were held to 31 percent shooting and outrebounded 43-21 by the taller Seawolves.
The Seawolves trailed only briefly when Brooks nailed a three-pointer to start the game. Miller scored the next five points, however, and Dasha Basova followed with a three-pointer to key a 10-0 Seawolf run.
A fast-break layup by Hanna Johansson made it 22-11 midway through the first half, and Mansfield would not get within single digits again.
Johansson, a 6-2 freshman from Gothenburg, Sweden, had her first double-digit scoring effort with 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting. Junior guard Tamar Gruwell was the only other Seawolf in double figures with 12 points, nailing 4 of 8 from three-point range.
Sophomore Nikki Aden had nine points (4-7 FG) and three assists, while senior center Rebecca Kielpinski delivered eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Senior guard Elisha Harris helped UAA build its 40-17 halftime lead by dishing all of her career-high five assists in the opening stanza. The Utah native also tied her career-high with three steals while committing just one turnover.
Nine Seawolves scored five or more points on the night, while Mansfield's 21 rebounds equaled the fourth-fewest ever allowed by a Seawolf team.
The Seawolves and Mountaineers will meet at 7 p.m. Monday for a rematch at the WFSC.