DURHAM, N.C. – Junior point guard Yazmeen Goo scored a team-high 13 points Sunday as the Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team made its 2018-19 debut with a 75-54 exhibition loss to NCAA Div. I power Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The 21st-ranked Blue Devils were led by 18 points and 10 rebounds from Haley Gorecki as they jumped to an early lead and used their size to earn a 44-23 rebounding advantage.
“Against an opponent like Duke, any mistake that you make gets turned into points, so we had to hold ourselves to a high standard,” said UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy, whose team is ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Div. II preseason coaches' poll. “In the first half we didn't do that, but in the second half we did a much better job of executing our game plan and playing to the standard of our program.”
Senior guard Tara Thompson scored all nine of her points in the first half, hitting a three-pointer that gave the Seawolves their lone lead at 3-2. The Blue Devils shot 79 percent from the field in building a 29-17 lead after one quarter, and the hosts extended to a 46-27 halftime edge.
Junior guard Safiyyah Yasin made one of her two three-pointers to slice it to a 50-34 deficit midway through the third quarter, but the Seawolves would get no closer.
Thompson and fellow senior guard Sydni Stallworth scored nine points apiece, and senior guard Kian McNair had seven points and a game-high four steals. Senior center Hannah Wandersee and freshman forward Sala Langi led UAA with five rebounds each.
UAA begins the regular season next weekend against fellow NCAA Div. II West Region programs Holy Names (Sat., Nov. 10, noon AST) and San Francisco State (Sun., Nov. 11, 2 p.m. AST) in San Francisco.
