HONOLULU (Oct. 30) – Junior guard
Bridgette Tello made her Alaska Anchorage debut with 13 points and five rebounds, but it wasn't enough to overcome a slow start against the nation's second-ranked team Friday in a 74-52 women's basketball loss to Colorado Mesa at the Hoops In Hawaii Tip-Off Classic at the T.C. Ching Athletic Center.
The Seawolves also got 10 points from sophomore guard
Mylee Anderson in the season opener for both squads, while freshman guard
Kinzley Larsen started her career with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Coming off an NCAA Div. II national semifinals berth last spring, the Mavericks got 32 points on 10-of-17 shooting, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals from senior guard Mason Rowland.
"We didn't give ourselves a chance with the way we started the game," said UAA head coach
Matt Thune. "We were rattled early, and against a good team you can't put yourself in that kind of position. I was proud of how we responded in the second quarter and the stretches where we competed and played closer to our identity. Ultimately, we need to be more disciplined, take better care of the ball and trust what we do. This a learning opportunity for our group and we have to respond."
Meeting CMU for the first time, UAA fell behind 8-0 before Tello got the scoring started, and it was 22-4 when Mavs center Brooke Eyre scored on the fast break midway through the quarter. The Seawolves trailed 28-10 after the opening 10 minutes, but they were able to chip away before halftime. Senior forward
Lillee Duffin had all five of her points and three of her five rebounds in the second quarter as UAA sliced to a 39-29 deficit at the break.
Although the Seawolves stayed within striking distance throughout the third quarter, they were never able to get within single digits, and CMU would pull away from a 50-38 advantage with 10 minutes left.
A transfer from Texas A&M-International, Tello shot 5 of 11 from the field, while fellow TAMUI transfer
Jayden Smallwood debuted with five points.
The Seawolves have two more games at the Classic, starting with a Saturday 2:15 pm ADT contest against local team Chaminade. Find live video and stats links at GoSeawolves.com.
