ANCHORAGE - Freshman Gritt Ryder scored 14 of her career-high 20 points after halftime Saturday to spark a huge second-half surge, helping the 12th-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team to a 77-57 victory over Simon Fraser at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
The Seawolves (22-4, 13-2) also got big performances from seniors Hanna Johansson and Kaylie Robison as they avenged one of their two Division II losses and moved closer to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title.
With three regular-season games remaining, UAA now holds a 2½-game lead on Western Washington and a 3½-game advantage on SFU in the league race. Both WWU and SFU have four games left.
The Clan (14-8, 9-5) had their three-game winning streak stopped despite a 14-point, 14-rebound effort from junior center Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe. The GNAC's leading scorer and rebounder put up big numbers yet again, but shot just 4 of 17 from the field.
SFU, which knocked off UAA 77-69 in British Columbia last month, started hot from three-point range, hitting its first four treys. The Clan erased a 25-20 deficit midway through the first half and scored the final six points of the stanza to take a 36-30 lead at the break - UAA's first halftime deficit on its primary home court this year.
The Clan's Erin Chambers hit a three-pointer with 18:44 to give the visitors their largest lead, 41-32, but the Seawolves clamped down on defense and made their run at that point.
Back-to-back layups by Johansson and Robison drew UAA within 41-37, and Robison converted a three-point play off a perfect backdoor feed from Sasha King, trimming the deficit to 43-42 at the 15-minute mark. Alysa Horn nailed a 15-foot jumper to give the Seawolves the lead, and King stole the ball and drove the length of the court for a layup to force the Clan into a 30-second timeout.
Tied at 46-46 a few minutes later, Tijera Mathews scored on a baseline drive to give the Seawolves the lead for good. Robison banked home consecutive layups on passes from King a few moments later to extend to a 57-47 advantage, and SFU could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
After going scoreless with one rebound and two turnovers in the first half, Robison came alive after the break, scoring all 13 of her points on 6-of-7 shooting, plus five rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal. Meanwhile, Robison's frontcourt partner, Johansson, provided a vintage performance with 13 points (6-8 FG), 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals.
It was the 10th double-double this year for Johansson as she moved into the No. 3 spot on UAA's career rebounding list. Now with 747 boards, the 6-2 center from Sweden needs just 18 more to catch Wendy Sturgis (765 rebounds, 1988-92) for No. 2. With her pair of swipes, Johansson also tied for No. 5 on the career steals list with 181.
King topped her career high in assists for the second straight game, dishing 11 dimes and adding a career-best six rebounds, while Ryder was lights-out from the field, hitting 8 of 10 shots, including all four of her three-pointers. A 5-9 true freshman from Denmark, Ryder bettered her previous best of 15 points, helping the Seawolves shoot 55 percent (33 of 60) from the field.
Junior forward Alysa Horn was the fourth Seawolf in double figures with 12 points (4-5 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT), adding three assists with no turnovers.
The Seawolves go on the road for the final time in the regular season next week when they visit Saint Martin's on Thur., Feb. 16 and Western Oregon on Sat., Feb. 18. Both games begin at 6 p.m. AST.
