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Afoa helps Seawolves cruise past Wolves, 77-51

Women's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Afoa helps Seawolves cruise past Wolves, 77-51

ANCHORAGE – Freshman forward Sierra Afoa sparked a 19-point run to open the game and finished with a career-high 15 points Saturday as No. 2 Alaska Anchorage raced past Western Oregon for its 10th straight victory, 77-51 at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (22-1, 12-1 GNAC) also got 14 points apiece from juniors Megan Mullings and Jenna Buchanan to become the first team to officially clinch a bid in next month's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championships.

The Wolves (5-15, 2-10) were led by 10 points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals from senior forward Dana Goularte as they suffered their 23rd consecutive loss in the head-to-head series.

Mullings scored a putback on the game's first possession and Afoa poured in five quick points to bring the tally to 12-0 and force a timeout by the visitors. A layup by Alli Madison made it 19-0 before the Wolves earned their first field goal at the 12:50 mark on a bank-in three-pointer by Shyla Akins.

UAA led 39-21 at halftime and pushed its advantage as high as 73-41 with 5:51 remaining.

Afoa shot 7 of 10 on a variety of nifty post moves, along with six rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block and no turnovers in just 20 minutes. The redshirt rookie from Anchorage's Dimond High School topped her previous best of 10 points, set in the season-opener against Holy Names.

Meanwhile, Buchanan shot 5 of 8 overall and 2 of 3 on three-pointers, along with five rebounds and two assists, and Mullings shot 5 of 9 with five rebounds. Madison added nine points, eight rebounds and four assists.

The Seawolves outshot the visitors from Monmouth .475 to .344 and won the rebounding battle 47-28.

UAA plays just one game next week when it travels north to Alaska Fairbanks (13-11, 5-8) for a 3:15 p.m. tip at the Patty Center.

NOTES: The top six teams in the final GNAC standings qualify for the GNAC Tournament, set for Mar. 4-7 in Billings, Mont., with the top two teams earning first-round byes … junior guard Jessica Madison earned the first multi-block game of her career with two swats against WOU … Mullings pushed her streak to nine straight games in double figures, while Buchanan has tallied at least six points in every game this year … UAA has won 11 straight in Anchorage against WOU … UAA's 23 straight wins over the Wolves are the most against any opponent in program history … WOU's last victory came in Anchorage on Dec. 6, 2003.

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Players Mentioned

Alli Madison

#10 Alli Madison

G
5' 8"
Freshman
Jessica Madison

#RS Jessica Madison

G
5' 8"
Freshman
Jenna Buchanan

#12 Jenna Buchanan

G
5' 8"
Freshman
Sierra Afoa

#RS Sierra Afoa

F
5' 9"
Freshman
Megan Mullings

#11 Megan Mullings

F
6' 1"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Alli Madison

#10 Alli Madison

5' 8"
Freshman
G
Jessica Madison

#RS Jessica Madison

5' 8"
Freshman
G
Jenna Buchanan

#12 Jenna Buchanan

5' 8"
Freshman
G
Sierra Afoa

#RS Sierra Afoa

5' 9"
Freshman
F
Megan Mullings

#11 Megan Mullings

6' 1"
Junior
F