ANCHORAGE (Feb. 26) – Senior guard Elaina Mack paced a balanced scoring effort with 18 points and sophomore Kimberly Carrada Sanchez added 17 points off the bench Thursday to lead the Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team to a 79-58 victory over Western Oregon at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (16-10, 8-9 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 15 points and six rebounds from sophomore forward Mahaila Harrison as they forged a regular-season split with WOU and caught the visitors for sixth place in the GNAC standings.

The Wolves (13-12, 8-9) were led by 16 points from guard Enid Vaifanua, but were outrebounded 50-41 and outscored 26-16 in the paint.

With the win, UAA stays alive for the sixth and final GNAC Tournament berth, needing a victory over Saint Martin's in Saturday's regular-season finale and some help from other results around the league.

"We didn't shoot particularly well, but our offensive execution was still solid, and I thought it was certainly one of our best defensive efforts this season," said UAA head coach Matt Thune. "Now we need to match that intensity again Saturday against a very good Saint Martin's team coming in here on senior night."

After three ties and four early lead changes, the Seawolves began to pull away midway through the first half, sparked by a tiebreaking three-pointer from Taylor Searcey. Freshman forward Alba Sanz went 4 of 4 on free throws in the final 45 seconds of the first quarter to make it 23-18, and UAA held WOU to just one point over the next six minutes.

Carrada Sanchez and Mack buried consecutive treys to make it 35-22 with 3:40 on the clock, and Mylee Anderson converted her own miss for a layup and a 40-23 halftime lead.

Vaifanua scored three straight baskets to keep her team within striking distance at 50-38 late in the third quarter, but the Seawolves responded with 12 consecutive points – all from Carrada Sanchez and Mack – to pull away.

Entering the night at No. 14 on UAA's career scoring list with 1,095 points, Mack shot 7 of 14 from the field and 4 of 6 from long range. Now with 233 career three-pointers, the King Cove native goes into Saturday's regular-season finale needing six more to tie the program record.

Meanwhile, Carrada Sanchez scored double figures for the 12th time in her first year with the Seawolves, shooting 6 of 15 from the field and managing her second-most points in a GNAC contest. The Washington native also had four rebounds, four assists and a game-high three steals in 25 minutes.

Searcey showed off her all-around skills again with seven points, nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block, and Anderson fought through early foul trouble to produce eight points (2-3 3FG), six rebounds, four assists, two steals, a block and no turnovers.

Junior center Lillee Duffin snagged a game-high 12 rebounds, along with four assists and no turnovers, as she managed double-figure boards for the 12th time.

A freshman from Spain, Sanz tied her collegiate high with nine points, going 7 of 7 on free throws.

The Seawolves take the court for their 'senior day' finale Saturday at 5:15 pm against regionally ranked Saint Martin's at the Alaska Airlines Center. Find tickets, live links and more at GoSeawolves.com.