ANCHORAGE ? Rebecca Kielpinski had 11 points and nine rebounds, and Tamar Gruwell scored all 12 of her points from three-point range Wednesday as the No. 1-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team recorded to a 71-43 victory over Alaska Fairbanks at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
The Seawolves (21-1, 8-0 GNAC) extended their school-record win streak to 19 games thanks to their usual tough defensive effort, limiting the Nanooks (5-13, 0-9) to 32.6 percent shooting and forcing 23 turnovers.
UAF got 17 points and five rebounds from guard Caitlin Hamsley, while forward Ronisha Edwards grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. The Nanooks began the game with just six players, and they were left with no reserves when starting center Nicole Bozek injured her knee only four minutes into the action.
Despite their advantage in size and depth, the Seawolves had trouble extending the lead in the first half, shooting just 2 of 16 from long range ? their second-worst three-point-shooting half of the season.
But UAA used its press to force 16 Nanook turnovers in the opening stanza, earning a 31-18 lead the break.
Gruwell heated up in the second half, nailing 4 of 5 treys in the stanza, while fellow starting guard Kiki Taylor was all over the court with four points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Junior forward Ruby Williams did most of her damage in the first half to finish with eight points and six rebounds, while senior guard Elisha Harris delivered another solid performance off the bench with eight points (2-4 3FG), six rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, Kielpinski shot 4 of 9 from the field and delivered three assists as the senior center passed Allegra Stoetzel (1,610 pts, 1992-96) for No. 4 on UAA's career scoring list, now with 1,613 points. The Mandan, N.D., product is now just five rebounds shy of tying the Great Northwest Athletic Conference career rebounds mark as the Seawolves head into a Saturday (5 p.m. AST) road game against Montana State Billings (11-8, 3-5).
UAA's victory Wednesday marked its second straight season sweep of the Nanooks and ran its home win streak against UAF to five.
The Seawolves' 19-game win streak is now the second-longest for any sport at UAA (hockey, 29, 1983-84), surpassing the 18 straight wins by last year's men's basketball team.
