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Seawolves dominate Wildcats to start GNAC

Women's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Seawolves dominate Wildcats to start GNAC

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Junior forward Nikki Aden scored 17 points Thursday as the nationally 8th-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team began Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with a 77-42 victory over Central Washington at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Seawolves (11-1, 1-0 GNAC) also got 10 points, five rebounds and a career-high five assists – with no turnovers – from sophomore center Hanna Johansson, while senior guard Leah Stepovich added a career-high 12 points off the bench on 4-of-4 three-point shooting.

Central (3-8, 0-1) was led by 14 points from forward Sophie Russell and 11 points from senior center and Anchorage native Shaina Afoa. The rest of the Wildcats combined to shoot just 7 of 28 from the field, however, and were outrebounded 50-25 by the Seawolves.

UAA took control from the start with a 6-0 lead and held a 23-13 advantage when Afoa knocked down a jumper with 2:45 left in the first half. The Seawolves answered quickly with a fastbreak layup by Aden on a feed from point guard Kiki Taylor, closing the stanza with an 8-0 run.

UAA's first-half defensive effort marked the second-fewest points allowed in a road game in school history. The Seawolves held Alaska Fairbanks to nine first-half points on Jan. 26, 2008.

An early 7-0 run by the Wildcats in the second half made it 40-25 with 16:24 left, but UAA would hold the home team scoreless for the next seven minutes as the lead ballooned back to 57-25.

Aden came one point shy of her career-high on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3 of 4 from long range. The Portland, Ore., native also grabbed six rebounds and dished three assists.

Taylor finished with six points, three assists and three steals, and senior forward Nicci Miller managed eight points and six rebounds despite playing only 17 minutes due to foul trouble.

It was the Seawolf bench that made the biggest difference, though, outscoring their Wildcat counterparts 33-2. Along with Stepovich, junior Sarah Herrin notched nine points (4-8 FG) and junior guard Torle Nenbee had six points (3-3 FG) and a career-high seven rebounds. Junior forward Kelsie Gourdin overcame a poor shooting night (0-5 FG) to produce career-high numbers in rebounds (8), assists (5) and blocks (2).

UAA has now won six straight over CWU by an average margin of 27.7 points.

The Seawolves will take their three-game winning streak into an early showdown with fellow GNAC challenger Western Washington on Saturday (6 p.m. AST) in Bellingham.
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Players Mentioned

Nikki Aden

#25 Nikki Aden

G/F
5' 8"
Freshman
Kelsie Gourdin

#RS Kelsie Gourdin

F
5' 10"
Junior
Sarah Herrin

#RS Sarah Herrin

G
5' 8"
Junior
Hanna Johansson

#50 Hanna Johansson

F
6' 2"
Freshman
Nicci Miller

#0 Nicci Miller

F
5' 10"
Junior
Leah Stepovich

#RS Leah Stepovich

G
5' 7"
Senior
Kiki Taylor

#10 Kiki Taylor

G
5' 5"
Junior
Torle Nenbee

#4 Torle Nenbee

G
5' 8"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Nikki Aden

#25 Nikki Aden

5' 8"
Freshman
G/F
Kelsie Gourdin

#RS Kelsie Gourdin

5' 10"
Junior
F
Sarah Herrin

#RS Sarah Herrin

5' 8"
Junior
G
Hanna Johansson

#50 Hanna Johansson

6' 2"
Freshman
F
Nicci Miller

#0 Nicci Miller

5' 10"
Junior
F
Leah Stepovich

#RS Leah Stepovich

5' 7"
Senior
G
Kiki Taylor

#10 Kiki Taylor

5' 5"
Junior
G
Torle Nenbee

#4 Torle Nenbee

5' 8"
Junior
G