ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Mar. 7) – Junior point guard
Senya Rabouin scored 18 points to power a balanced effort for Alaska Anchorage in a 79-57 victory over Seattle Pacific in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championships quarterfinals Thursday at Nicholson Pavilion.
The 3rd-seeded Seawolves (19-8) also got 10 points and seven rebounds from junior guard
Jazzpher Evans as they advanced to Friday's semifinals against 2nd-seeded Western Washington.
The 6th-seeded Falcons (11-18) were led by 19 points and seven rebounds from forward Olivia Mayer, but were outrebounded 45-28 as their season came to an end.
"I thought it was higher scoring because we controlled the pace," said UAA head coach
Ryan McCarthy, whose team beat SPU 51-39 seven days ago in Anchorage. "The ladies did an awesome job. We were down a player today, but everyone stepped up, and I couldn't be more proud of them as a group."
After splitting the regular-season series with each team defending its home court, the Seawolves and Falcons battled to a 25-25 deadlock through the first 15 minutes of the rubber match. UAA's depth began to pay dividends, however, as
Vishe' Rabb made two free throws to go ahead for good, and Rabouin swished a stepback three-pointer in the final seconds for a 41-31 halftime edge.
The onslaught continued with a 12-2 run after the break, capped by a putback layup from junior forward
Nessa Walsh. UAA pushed its largest advantage to 27 points three times late in the third, getting a career-high eight points (4-7 FG) from Walsh, along with six rebounds and two steals.
Sophomore guard
Elaina Mack added nine points and five rebounds as all 10 active Seawolves scored at least two points and grabbed a rebound. Junior point guard
Mia Ross had eight points on 4-of-4 shooting and junior guard
Kya Pearson had six points as the Seawolf bench outscored its counterparts 29-6.
Ranked No. 8 in the NCAA West Region, the Seawolves can improve their NCAA Tournament chances with another victory Friday over nationally 24th-ranked Western Washington, who UAA defeated both times in the regular season. That game tips at 11 a.m. Alaska Standard Time, with live video and stats links available at GoSeawolves.com and gnacsports.com.
NOTES: Seeking its seventh GNAC tournament title, UAA improved to 16-6 all-time since the event was founded in 2011 … the Seawolves improved to 4-2 in GNAC tourney meetings against SPU, avenging last year's 69-65 loss in the quarterfinals in Bellingham, Wash. … UAA will play Western Washington for the first time in the semifinals, marking the teams' first GNAC tourney meeting outside the championship game … UAA is 7-2 all-time in the GNAC semifinals.
