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Seniors help UAA secure 2nd place in GNAC

Women's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Seniors help UAA secure 2nd place in GNAC

ANCHORAGE – Seniors Nikki Aden and Kaitlin McBride scored 14 points apiece and the 19th-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team used another dominating defensive performance Thursday to wrap up sole possession of second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 70-40 victory over Alaska Fairbanks.

The Seawolves (23-6, 14-4 GNAC) also got 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks from junior Hanna Johansson and 10 points from sophomore Alysa Horn in front of a 'Senior Night' crowd of 532 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Nanooks (1-24, 1-17) were led by 10 points, 10 rebounds and four steals from senior center Nicole Bozek as their season came to an end.

UAA's victory means it will host 7th-seeded Northwest Nazarene (14-12, 9-9) in the first round of the inaugural GNAC Tournament at 5:15 p.m. Monday at the WFSC. With the No. 2 seed, the Seawolves – ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Div. II West Region – would retain home court advantage for Wednesday's semifinals if it beats the Crusaders.

Thursday's regular-season finale was surprisingly tight in the early going, with UAF holding a 15-14 lead after the first 12 minutes. But the Seawolves scored the next eight points and took a 24-17 advantage into halftime, spurred by seven first-half points from Horn.

Holding a 26-20 lead at the 17:34 mark of the second half, UAA sandwiched three-pointers from Aden and Tijera Mathews between a pair of jump shots by McBride to take command for good. Mathews, a junior forward from Palmdale, Calif., shot 3 of 6 from three-point range, grabbed three steals and matched career-highs with six rebounds and three assists.

UAA's third senior, Nikiski native Sarah Herrin , scored the Seawolves' first four points and equaled her season-high with six rebounds.

Meanwhile, Aden shot an efficient 6 of 9 from the field (2-4 3FGs) and matched her career-high for the fifth time with eight rebounds. McBride shot 5 of 11 and dished seven assists without a turnover, while junior forward Kaylie Robison came off the bench for seven rebounds and a career-high three blocks.

UAA held UAF to 21.4 percent shooting (12 of 56), including 9.5 percent (2 of 21) from three-point range, and outrebounded the visitors 49-38. The Seawolves have now won eight straight against the Nanooks and six in a row at the WFSC.

The other GNAC Tournament first-round match-ups on Monday are 8th-seeded Simon Fraser at top-seeded Western Washington, 6th-seeded Western Oregon at 3rd-seeded Seattle Pacific, and 5th-seeded Saint Martin's at 4th-seeded Montana State Billings. The highest remaining seed will then host the lowest remaining seed on Wednesday, with the other two survivors playing on the home court of the higher-seeded team in the other semifinal. The championship game will be Saturday at the highest remaining seed, with the winner gaining the GNAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships, set for Mar. 11-14.

NOTES: UAA finished second place outright in the GNAC for the third time in five years under head coach Tim Moser ; the Seawolves were third last year and tied for the league title with Seattle Pacific in 2008-09 … UAA has now won at least 23 games in every season under Moser … UAF's .214 shooting percentage was a season-low for a Seawolf opponent … UAA has held six of its last eight opponents under 50 points, including each of the last four home games … Aden pushed her career scoring total to 807, becoming the 19th Seawolf to top 800 points … Aden's appearance was her 125th in a Seawolf uniform, meaning she will tie former teammate Rebecca Kielpinski (2005-09) for the career games-played record on Monday … Johansson now has 832 career points, moving past Beth Clure (822, 1990-92) for 17th place on UAA's career scoring list.
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Players Mentioned

Nikki Aden

#25 Nikki Aden

G/F
5' 8"
Freshman
Sarah Herrin

#RS Sarah Herrin

G
5' 8"
Junior
Alysa Horn

#RS Alysa Horn

F
5' 11"
Freshman
Hanna Johansson

#50 Hanna Johansson

F
6' 2"
Freshman
Kaitlin McBride

#21 Kaitlin McBride

G
5' 7"
Junior
Tijera Mathews

#3 Tijera Mathews

G/F
5' 10"
Junior
Kaylie Robison

#24 Kaylie Robison

F
6' 0"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Nikki Aden

#25 Nikki Aden

5' 8"
Freshman
G/F
Sarah Herrin

#RS Sarah Herrin

5' 8"
Junior
G
Alysa Horn

#RS Alysa Horn

5' 11"
Freshman
F
Hanna Johansson

#50 Hanna Johansson

6' 2"
Freshman
F
Kaitlin McBride

#21 Kaitlin McBride

5' 7"
Junior
G
Tijera Mathews

#3 Tijera Mathews

5' 10"
Junior
G/F
Kaylie Robison

#24 Kaylie Robison

6' 0"
Junior
F