FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Sophomore guard
Malie Marfil scored a career-high 14 points but the Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team went cold in the fourth quarter Saturday in a 61-56 loss to Alaska Fairbanks at the Patty Center.
The Seawolves (10-4, 2-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 13 points from senior point guard
Nicole Pinckney as their 28-game winning streak in the rivalry came to an end.
The Nanooks (4-8, 1-4) got a game-high 25 points from guard Destiny Reimers as they overcame a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit despite getting outrebounded 46-36.
"We just could not get any big shots to go down today, and we committed too many turnovers to give ourselves a chance at the end," said UAA head coach
Ryan McCarthy, whose team shot just 28.2 percent (20 of 71) overall and 10 percent (3 of 30) on three-pointers. "Obviously if one or two of those go down, we could have had a different outcome, but that's the way basketball goes sometimes."
Playing for the first time this year without leading scorer and rebounder
Vishe' Rabb – who suffered an injury in practice this week – the Seawolves fought the hosts to a draw in the first half at 32-32.
The Seawolves trailed 44-38 midway through the third quarter before seemingly taking control with a 13-0 run to end the period, capped by a midrange bank shot from Pinckney.
UAA led 53-46 when
Kimani Fernandez – making her season debut after breaking her foot in October – made a baseline jumper, but the visitors went ice cold from that point, hitting just one more field goal the rest of the game.
The Seawolves finished 2 of 14 overall and 0 of 4 on threes in the final period, and were unable to take advantage of 5-of-14 free-throw shooting by the Nanooks.
Marfil shot 5 of 9 overall and 4 of 5 on charities, while Pinckney shot 4 of 9 from the field.
Senior guard
Jahnna Hajdukovich had seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, and sophomore forward
Kate Robertson grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for two games next week, starting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against nationally ranked Central Washington. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for tickets and live links.