ANCHORAGE ? Rebecca Kielpinski had 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead a balanced Alaska Anchorage attack Thursday to help the No. 1-ranked team in women's Division II basketball escape with a 70-67 victory over Western Washington at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex on Thursday night.
The Seawolves (23-1, 10-0 GNAC) got a game-high 14 points from senior Dasha Basova as they ran their winning streak to 21 games.
The Vikings (14-6, 6-3), ranked No. 4 in the West Region, were led by 13 points from junior forward Willow Cabe and 10 rebounds from forward Jessica Summers. WWU lost despite posting an opponent season-best .417 field-goal percentage and scoring the most points in regulation all year against the nation's top defensive squad.
UAA led 39-29 at halftime thanks to Basova's 4-of-5 three-point shooting in the stanza, but WWU never let its deficit grow any larger in the second half. Vikings center Claire Pallansch scored eight of her 12 points after the break, and Summers sank a jumper with 5:24 left that finally tied the game, 59-59.
After trading points on the ensuing possessions, UAA junior guard Tamar Gruwell then made the biggest shot of the night, snapping a 63-all deadlock with a three-pointer at the 3:25 mark.
The Seawolf defense would clamp down from there, forcing seven straight Vikings misses in the last 3 minutes until Gabby Wade made it 69-67 on a layup with 3.1 seconds remaining. UAA guard Kiki Taylor was fouled on the inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left and made the second of two free throws for the final margin. She then tipped WWU's inbounds try, allowing the Vikings no chance at a final shot.
UAA got 11 points apiece from Ruby Williams (7-8 FT), Taylor (3-4 FG, 5-6 FT) and Gruwell (2-4 3FG, 3-4 FT) to run its home-court win streak to 18 games.
Kielpinski passed a pair of career milestones in the victory, establishing a new school record for games played (115) and moving into second place on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's all-time scoring list with 1,629 points.
The Seawolves return to the court Saturday when they host Central Washington in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the WFSC.
