Scoreboard

#1 UAA sqeaks past SFU, into GNAC finals

Women's Basketball UAA Media Relations

#1 UAA sqeaks past SFU, into GNAC finals

BILLINGS, Mont. – Juniors Megan Mullings and Jenna Buchanan scored 16 points apiece and nationally top-ranked Alaska Anchorage erased a late deficit Friday to earn a 59-56 victory over Simon Fraser in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

With their 16th straight victory, the Seawolves (28-1) advance to play in Saturday's 3:15 p.m. AST title game against 3rd-seeded Western Washington, which upset nationally 20th-ranked Seattle Pacific 72-67 in overtime in the first semifinal.

The 4th-seeded Clan (15-13) got a game-high 20 points from senior wing Erin Chambers – the GNAC Player of the Year and leading scorer in NCAA Div. II – and 11 rebounds from center Meg Wilson, but Chambers' final three-point attempt bounced off the rim as time expired.

The game was tied 31-31 at halftime after the Clan used a 10-2 spurt to end the opening stanza, and the NCAA's lone Canadian program controlled play for most of the second half.

UAA trailed 51-45 when SFU's Elisa Homer nailed one of her team's 12 three-pointers with 10 minutes left, and the Seawolves faced a 54-48 deficit with 7 minutes to play. The Seawolf defense took over from that point, however, with sophomore point guard Kiki Robertson getting loose for a jumper in the lane to start an 11-0 UAA run.

Mullings gave UAA a 56-54 lead on a feed from Alli Madison with 3 minutes to play, and Madison nailed a transition jumper at the 2-minute mark. After Mullings made one of two free throws, the Clan stopped a 6-minute, 20-second scoring drought on Homer's putback layup with 40 seconds left. Homer also drew the fifth foul on Robertson, the GNAC's Defensive Player of the Year.

Seawolf junior guards Alli Madison and Jessica Madison each had chances to ice the game from the free-throw line but missed the front ends of one-and-one opportunities – Jessica's with 11 seconds to play. SFU grabbed the rebound and got the ball to Katie Lowen, who missed long. Wilson snagged the offensive board and dished to a wide-open Chambers at the top of the key, but the GNAC all-time scoring leader's final shot also caromed off the back rim as the buzzer sounded.

The comeback victory was UAA's second against the Clan this year, following a 63-59 win in British Columbia on Feb. 19. SFU led by five with under 6 minutes to play in that matchup as well. SFU suffered eight of its losses this season to teams among the top seven of the NCAA Div. II West Regional rankings, including three to UAA.

Senior forward KeKe Wright had 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and six rebounds, and Robertson finished with six points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals before fouling out for the first time this year. Freshman point guard Jerica Nelson – a Kodiak product – made an unsung contribution with Robertson in foul trouble, playing 15 minutes and dishing three assists with just one turnover. Another Alaskan, Wasilla's Alysha Devine grabbed a career-high five steals, including five in the second half.

Meanwhile, Mullings scored in double figures for the 15th straight game, despite not shooting 50 percent from the field (6 of 13) for the first time in that string. Buchanan struggled from inside the arc as the Seawolves hit just 32.8 percent from the field, but the Galena native nailed 4 of 6 three-pointers.

UAA and Western Washington (21-8) will meet for the third time in five all-time GNAC Tournament championship games, with the Seawolves having taken the first two titles in 2011 and 2012. The Vikings are in the title game for the fifth straight time.

Saturday's game will be streamed live at portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa, with a simulcast set to air in Anchorage on KCFT (GCI cable Ch. 19).

NOTES: UAA's 16-game winning streak now stands alone as the second-longest in program history behind the 22-gamer in 2008-09 … UAA's 28 wins are its third-most so far, ranking only behind the 30 in 2007-08 and 31 in 2008-09 … Robertson increased her total to 92 steals to move up to fourth place on UAA's single-season list and put her just three shy of tying the record … the Seawolves swept the regular-season series from WWU, winning 71-58 in Anchorage on Jan. 22 and 81-78 in Bellingham on Feb. 21 … the second clash with WWU was UAA's only game before Friday that went to the last second this season, with the Vikings also missing a tying attempt at the buzzer.

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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
Alysha Devine

#15 Alysha Devine

F
6' 0"
Freshman
Kiki Robertson

#23 Kiki Robertson

G
5' 7"
Freshman
KeKe Wright

#13 KeKe Wright

F
6' 0"
Junior
Megan Mullings

#11 Megan Mullings

F
6' 1"
Junior
Jerica Nelson

#14 Jerica Nelson

G
5' 4"
Freshman

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
Alysha Devine

#15 Alysha Devine

6' 0"
Freshman
F
Kiki Robertson

#23 Kiki Robertson

5' 7"
Freshman
G
KeKe Wright

#13 KeKe Wright

6' 0"
Junior
F
Megan Mullings

#11 Megan Mullings

6' 1"
Junior
F
Jerica Nelson

#14 Jerica Nelson

5' 4"
Freshman
G