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#1 Seawolves survive Wildcats' upset bid, 69-61

Women's Basketball UAA Media Relations

#1 Seawolves survive Wildcats' upset bid, 69-61

ANCHORAGE – Senior Megan Mullings scored 12 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter Saturday to help the nationally top-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team avoid an upset with a 69-61 victory over Central Washington at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Mullings also grabbed six of her game-high seven rebounds after halftime as the Seawolves (28-1, 15-1 GNAC) erased a pair of six-point deficits to earn their 16th consecutive win.

Jenna Buchanan contributed 13 points despite a rough shooting night, and fellow senior guard Jessica Madison scored all 10 of her points in the first for UAA, which was playing without injured starting forward Alysha Devine (illness) and reserve center Dominique Brooks (concussion). To make things worse, the Seawolves lost senior guard Keiahnna Engel during the first quarter to an apparent leg injury, bringing a normal 12-player rotation down to nine.

Central Washington (15-9, 8-8) was led by 18 points and five assists from sophomore point guard Jasmin Edwards, who kept the Wildcats close all day by nailing her first four three-point tries.

UAA trailed 15-12 after the first quarter, tying its largest such deficit of the season, and the Wildcats stretched their lead to 26-20 with 3:19 left before halftime. But Madison answered with eight straight points, followed by a Christina Davis jumper, to give UAA the last 10 points before the break. The run reached 17-0 when Buchanan and Kiki Robertson started the third quarter with layups, followed by Buchanan's lone trey of the game.

Facing a 37-26 deficit, the Wildcats continued to scratch their way back into the contest. Melanie Valdez nailed a three-pointer to make it a 46-44 game after three quarters, and Sadie Mensing converted a feed from Kortney Grattic to tie it with 9:24 remaining.

Mullings – the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year – took over at that point, scoring the Seawolves' next six points to regain the lead for good, hitting four free throws and a fast-break layup in the less than two minutes.

Buchanan converted two free throws, Mullings scored on an offensive put-back, and Robertson drove the lane for her fourth layup of the second half to extend the lead to 60-52, forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout with 5:19 left.

Edwards answered the surge with her final trey at the 3:35 mark, but the visitors from Ellensburg would get no closer.

Both teams entered with top-10 NCAA Div. II ranks in scoring defense and appropriately held each other to exactly 37.3 percent shooting. The Seawolves were able to secure the victory thanks to 20-of-24 shooting (.833) at the free throw line, along with an 18-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

Senior guard Christina Davis provided a lift with nine points and three assists, Robertson finished with eight points (4-7 FG), five assists and two steals, while reserve forwards Hannah Wandersee and Sierra Afoa combined for 10 rebounds. Mullings was also active on defense with two blocks and a game-high three steals.

With four games remaining in the regular season, UAA completes its road schedule with a trip to Northwest Washington next week to face Saint Martin's on Thursday (4:15 p.m. AST) and Seattle Pacific on Saturday (5 p.m. AST).

NOTES: Buchanan extended her school-record streak to 33 straight games with at least one three-pointer, despite season-worst 1-of-8 accuracy from long range … Mullings shot 10 of 12 at the stripe to record the most free throws made by a Seawolf this year … Mullings rose to 18th place on UAA's career scoring list, now with 868 points … UAA beat CWU for the seventh straight time and the 18th time in the last 19 meetings.

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Players Mentioned

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
Christina Davis

#5 Christina Davis

G
5' 6"
Junior
Alysha Devine

#15 Alysha Devine

F
6' 0"
Freshman
Kiki Robertson

#23 Kiki Robertson

G
5' 7"
Freshman
Megan Mullings

#11 Megan Mullings

F
6' 1"
Junior
Hannah Wandersee

#43 Hannah Wandersee

F/C
6' 1"
Freshman
Dominique Brooks

#41 Dominique Brooks

C
6' 3"
Senior
Keiahnna Engel

#21 Keiahnna Engel

G
5' 7"
Senior

Players Mentioned

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
Christina Davis

#5 Christina Davis

5' 6"
Junior
G
Alysha Devine

#15 Alysha Devine

6' 0"
Freshman
F
Kiki Robertson

#23 Kiki Robertson

5' 7"
Freshman
G
Megan Mullings

#11 Megan Mullings

6' 1"
Junior
F
Hannah Wandersee

#43 Hannah Wandersee

6' 1"
Freshman
F/C
Dominique Brooks

#41 Dominique Brooks

6' 3"
Senior
C
Keiahnna Engel

#21 Keiahnna Engel

5' 7"
Senior
G