ANCHORAGE (Dec. 5) – Junior guard Elaina Mack scored 16 points and senior forward Jaisa Gamble piloted another strong defensive effort with six steals Thursday, boosting Alaska Anchorage to a 78-58 women's basketball victory over Saint Martin's in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (9-1, 1-0 GNAC) also got 15 points, three assists and four steals from senior point guard Emilia Long as they overcame 27 turnovers and 30 fouls.

The Saints (6-2, 0-1) were led by 14 points apiece from guards Jada Travis and Keeli Jade Smith, but the visitors were outshot .483 to .425 and outrebounded 33-23.

"I'm proud of our club for fighting through a game that didn't have much flow and getting the job done," said UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy. "Even though things weren't very pretty tonight, we still made progress and took steps forward as a group. It's great to get that first league win in the books, and we're looking forward to another challenge on Saturday."

Coming into the contest as the NCAA Div. II leader in scoring and turnover margin, UAA started with a 7-0 run in the opening minute, only to see the Saints respond with 11 straight points over the next two minutes. The Seawolves answered out of the ensuing timeout, however, getting a layup from Hedda Koehne to start a 12-0 run.

Senior center Tori Hollingshead scored inside to make it 29-19 with 5:52 left in the first half, and UAA would lead by double figures the rest of the way.

UAA earned the victory despite seeing Hollingshead (10 points/4 steals) and starting forward Ashlyn Rean both foul out, while three other Seawolves finished with four fouls apiece.

Mack made 4 of 8 from the three-point line, while Gamble stuffed the stat sheet with six points, four assists, no turnovers and her career-high-tying six steals. The national leader in steals with 4.9 per game coming in, Long nearly reached her average with four swipes.

Koehne had 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, and junior guard Kenzie Sirowich was solid with six points (2-3 FG, 2-2 FT) and eight rebounds.

UAA returns to the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. to face Western Oregon (3-4, 1-0). The first fans through the doors will get free hot/cold packs courtesy of Providence Alaska. Find tickets and live links at GoSeawolves.com.