ANCHORAGE ? Senior guard Kalhie Quinones scored 15 points and juniors Elisha Harris and Ruby Williams had 12 points each as the nationally 9th-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team posted a dominating 85-53 victory over Central Washington at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex on Thursday night.
The Seawolves (24-3, 13-2 GNAC) tied the school record for most victories in a season as they clinched at least a tie for second place and stayed within two games of league leader Seattle Pacific in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference race.
Forward Kristina Klapperich scored a team-high 11 points for the Wildcats (13-11, 5-11), who came into the game clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the NCAA Div. II West Region rankings.
Meanwhile, Rebecca Kielpinski scored all 10 of her points from the free throw line for UAA. The junior center also had game-highs of eight rebounds and six assists without a turnover.
No Seawolf played more than 27 minutes as the home squad outrebounded the visitors 41-23 and shot 50 percent (30 of 60) from the field.
Quinones, who shot 7 of 12, sparked the Seawolves on an early 16-0 run that erased a 9-6 Wildcat lead. The Colorado native also dished five assists without a turnover and grabbed four rebounds and two steals as she reached double-figure scoring for the eighth straight time.
UAA's victory total now equals 1987-88 team that went 24-5, while the 13 league wins are the most for the Seawolves in seven years of GNAC membership. The Seawolves posted 14 league wins in the 1999-00 and '87-88 seasons when they played in the Pacific West and Continental Divide conferences, respectively.
Thursday's result also gave UAA its first-ever season sweep of CWU and was the Seawolves' largest margin of victory over the Wildcats, topping a 76-58 win in the 2000 NCAA Tournament.
The regionally 4th-ranked Seawolves are back in action Saturday when they host Western Washington at 7 p.m. It will be the final home appearance for Quinones and fellow seniors Maria Nilsson, Jennifer Salazar (8 points, 3-4 FG in just 10 minutes Thursday), and Erin Cunningham.
