SEATTLE – Senior guard Safiyyah Yasin scored a career-high 31 points and top-seeded Alaska Anchorage survived a late three-point barrage by 5th-seeded Central Washington to claim a 79-77 victory in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championships semifinals at Brougham Pavilion on Friday night.

The nationally 5th-ranked Seawolves (30-2) also got 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals from senior point guard Yazmeen Goo as they advanced to their seventh GNAC title game in 10 years. UAA will play 3rd-seeded Western Washington on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. AST, with the winner earning the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

The Wildcats (19-11) – No. 10 in the most recent West Region poll – were led by 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from first-team all-conference guard Alexis Pana as they fell in the semifinals to UAA for the second year in a row. Guard Brianna Phiakhamngon added 14 points, sinking three of her team's GNAC-record 18 three-pointers.

"Credit to Central Washington – they outplayed us," said UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy, whose team earned its fourth 30-win campaign in the last five seasons. "We're very fortunate to come away with that win. I hope we learned a lesson, because after tomorrow a loss ends the season, and there's no practice the next day."

Entering with a 16-game winning streak against the Wildcats, the Seawolves raced to a 28-17 lead after the first quarter, making 12 of their first 21 shots. A first-team all-conference performer, Yasin surpassed her average with 15 points in the opening half, helping UAA take a 47-37 lead into the locker room.

UAA pushed its largest advantage to 55-40 on a three-pointer from junior wing Lauren Johnson midway through the third quarter, but Central refused to fold, slicing it to 63-54 with 10 minutes left.

After a three-pointer by UAA's Rachel Ingram made it 72-60 at the 4-minute mark, the Wildcats delivered a final barrage, nailing five straight treys of their own. Pana's final three sliced it to a 78-77 Seawolf lead with 12 seconds to play, and the Wildcats fouled Yasin, who made one of two free throws with nine seconds left.

Without a timeout, the Wildcats grabbed the rebound and got ball to Phiakhamngon, who was fouled by Yasin on a three-point attempt with three seconds remaining.

A 75 percent free-throw shooter, the sophomore missed all three attempts – intentionally on the final try – and Seawolf junior Sala Langi grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled with 1.4 seconds showing. Langi missed both charities, but teammate Jahnna Hajdukovich secured an offensive rebound as the clock expired.

Yasin – who entered with a career high of 25 points – shot 11 of 16 from the field (3-4 3FG) and 6 of 8 at the foul stripe, while Goo shot 5 of 9 and committed just one turnover in 25 minutes.

Fernandez shot 5 of 8 and grabbed three of her four rebounds on the offensive end, along with a pair of steals, and Langi led UAA with seven rebounds.

The Seawolves are 5-1 all-time in GNAC tournament title games, falling 70-64 to Northwest Nazarene in last year's event. UAA won the inaugural title in 2011, followed by championships in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Saturday's game will be streamed live at gnac.tv, with live stats available at spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/wbball.