BELLINGHAM, Wash. (Mar. 2) – Junior forward Vishe' Rabb 16 points but the Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team could not hold on to a fourth-quarter lead Thursday, falling 69-65 to Seattle Pacific in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships at Carver Gymnasium.

The 4th-seeded Seawolves (18-10) also got 12 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting from senior guard Rachel Ingram as they lost despite shooting a season-best 55 percent (11 of 20) from long range.

The 5th-seeded Falcons (15-12) were led by a career-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from forward Natalie Hoff as they shot a season-high 60.5 percent (26 of 43) from the field and snapped a nine-game losing streak to their rivals from the north.

"We could not find an answer for their interior passing, and we weren't able to turn their turnovers into easy points when we could have expanded our lead in the first half," said UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy. "This is obviously a frustrating way to end the season, but hopefully our returning players can take this as another growing experience and come back stronger next season. We will miss our five seniors – all of whom stuck with the program through the pandemic – but I know they will all have success on their next steps in life."

After erasing an early 9-0 deficit, the Seawolves were able to forge a 35-29 lead late in the first half as they took advantage of 13 SPU turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Ingram stayed hot from long range in the third quarter to help advantage grow slightly to 55-48 after three quarters. Senior guard Nicole Pinckney swished a midrange jumper to give the Seawolves a 63-57 advantage at the 6:18 mark, but the Seawolves would go cold from there, making just one field goal and earning no trips to the free-throw line for the rest of the game.

After back-to-back inside baskets by Hunter Beirne and Anna Eddy gave SPU a 68-65 edge, Eddy thwarted UAA's final chance when she blocked Jahnna Hajdukovich's three-point attempt with 19 seconds remaining.

Rabb also grabbed a team-high six rebounds and three steals. The GNAC Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-GNAC performer went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line, finishing the year on a 49-of-51 streak over the last seven games.

Pinckney and Jazzpher Evans had seven points apiece, while sophomore forward Kate Robertson had six points on 2-of-3 shooting, three rebounds and two steals.