by FAIRBANKS, Alaska—Trailing big through the first quarter, the University of Fairbanks stormed back to stun Western Oregon University, 68-65, at the Alaska Airlines Court on Thursday.
Everything clicked for Western Oregon (7-14, 4-11 GNAC) in the first quarter while jumping out to a 21-9 lead. Already ahead 15-9 lead thanks to early buckets by Ronnie Harris (Assiniboine/Sioux) and Keyonna Jones, the Wolves closed out the quarter on a 6-0 run to go up by a dozen points.
WOU doubled up Alaska (4-17, 1-14 GNAC) via an Olivia Denton3-pointer early in the second quarter to give the team its largest lead at 26-13.
Getting the deficit back to single digits, the Nanooks responded with seven straight points and continued their inspired play until the end of the half to trail by five (32-27) at the break.
Alaska knotted the game at 36-36 midway through the third following a Marian Wamsley free throw and later grabbed its first lead on an Ashlie Blackburn layup with two minutes to play in the quarter.
Alaska outscored the Wolves 25-16 in the third for a four-point lead heading to the finale.
In the fourth, Western Oregon battled back, with a Harris layup giving the visitors a brief lead at 53-52.The response was short-lived, however, as the Nanooks drained back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch its advantage to a game-high seven points with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
Teresa Acock countered with a 3-pointer of her own and a Jones’ drive brought the Wolves back to within two (66-64), but with time running out the Nanooks secured the win at the free throw line.
The win snapped a 36-game winless streak in GNAC play for the Nanooks.
“Fairbanks has been in a lot of close games and they were determined down the stretch to get this one and they earned it,” WOU head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said. “We had a good start but gave them the momentum in the second quarter and never really got it back.”
Western Oregon outshot Alaska 47.3 percent to 43.1 percent but the Nanooks were able to use an edge in points off 3-pointers (21-to-15) and the charity stripe (17-to-8) to gain the final edge.
Harris scored a career-high 17 points after hitting 6-of-11 from the field. Jones ended the night with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Wamsley led all scorers with 23 points for Alaska.
“Our interior defense was subpar all night and they got too many easy baskets in the paint,” Howard-Carpenter said. “Offensively it seemed like we couldn’t find a rhythm and we were often missing the open player.”
Western Oregon will return to action on Saturday when it travels to face No. 10-ranked Alaska Anchorage. The Seawolves are tied for first in the GNAC standings and will enter Saturday’s game riding a 15-game winning streak.
“There are still games to be played and goals to be met. We have to regroup quickly and focus on taking steps forward to finish the season strong,” Howard-Carpenter said.
