NAMPA, Idaho – Junior guard Nicole Pinckney scored a career-high 21 points and senior forward Sala Langi had a huge game, including the go-ahead basket with two minutes remaining, to help nationally ranked Alaska Anchorage to a 76-72 women's basketball victory over Northwest Nazarene at the Johnson Sports Center on Saturday.

The Seawolves (9-1, 2-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) – No. 9 in the D2SIDA top-25 media poll and No. 11 in the WBCA coaches' poll – got 16 points and career highs of seven assists and six steals from Langi as they overcame a late deficit and won despite coming off a 19-day pandemic-induced layoff.

The Nighthawks (9-4, 3-2 GNAC) – ranked No. 8 in the D2SIDA West Region poll – were led by 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 11 rebounds from guard Teagan Thurman, but the hosts were hurt by 24 turnovers as their five-game winning streak was snapped.

"I'm extremely proud of that victory tonight, playing against a very good team on the road and having dealt with what we've dealt with the last two weeks," said UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy, whose team has had three games postponed since its last contest Dec. 19. "We had a short bench tonight and foul trouble on a couple key players, but we continued to stay focused and made the big plays down the stretch. We had three or four occasions in the last three minutes where we executed our offense perfectly after timeouts, and that turned out to be the difference."

In a game that featured six ties, 20 lead changes and no advantage larger than seven points, UAA also got clutch a performance from junior guard Jahnna Hajdukovich with 11 points, a career-high-tying nine rebounds and three assists.

Looking to avoid their first back-to-back losses since March 2014, the Seawolves trailed by one or two points after each quarter, facing a 57-55 deficit with 10 minutes remaining.

The Nighthawks led 62-58 with just over five minutes left when Tennae Voliva earned a pair of free throws, and Pinckney knocked down a long two-point shot and a three-pointer for a 7-0 run.

NNU answered with consecutive layups from Thurman and Nyalam Thabach to regain the lead, but Langi would come through for the visitors, slithering through the lane for a running bank shot to make it 67-66 at the 2:06 mark.

Leading 69-68 as the clock ticked under one minute, Langi drove strong to the basket and converted a traditional three-point play with 48 seconds showing. A preseason All-GNAC selection, Langi then made two steals in a 10-second span to help increase the lead to 74-68, and the Seawolves hung on despite some careless plays in the final 26 seconds.

Pinckney shot 7 of 13 from the field, including 5 of 10 from long range, as the former Chugiak High star established a new career scoring high for the first time since Nov. 9, 2019, along with four assists.

Meanwhile, Langi shot 6 of 15 from the floor, but it was her clutch play in the last five minutes – six points (2-2 FG, 2-3 FT), two assists, two steals and a key defensive rebound – that made the difference.

Voliva finished with nine points (3-4 FG, 3-4 FT), six rebounds, three assists and two of UAA's 15 steals, while freshman guard Jazzpher Evans chipped in 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for a four-game homestand beginning Saturday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. against Alaska Fairbanks. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for tickets and link to live video and stats.