by By Eric R. Flores
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Playing in her hometown, Angelline Nageak (Inupiaq) emerged as a standout player for Adams State University, significantly influencing Friday night’s non-conference game at the University. Ultimately, it was Kiiyani Anitielu (Navajo/Samoan) who sealed the victory with the decisive last shot, propelling the Grizzlies to their second straight hard-fought 1-point win, with the final score standing at 66-65.
Seawolves jumped out to a 9-0 lead. Sophomore Elaina Watson got the first four straight buckets for the Grizzlies. A back-and-forth first half saw the Seawolves take a 17-9 lead.
The second quarter saw the lead swell to 11 at the break as the Seawolves outscored the Grizzlies by five, 18-13, for a 35-24 score at the break.
The Grizzlies finally took their first lead of the game at 43-42 with 3:02 left in the third quarter after a 6-0 run over 1:17. The lead continued as a three-pointer by Kiiyani Anitielu made the score 46-43. Adams State ended up doubling up the Seawolves 26-12 in the quarter by shooting 9-of-16 from the field to take a narrow 50-47 lead into the final stanza.
The final quarter saw both teams battle and UAA pull within one point but never caught the Grizzlies as a deep three-pointer by sophomore Harmanie Dominguez, who scored all her points in the second half, helped push the game to a 62-60 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
A technical foul on Adams State that resulted in two free throws coupled with a three-pointer with just over a minute left helped the Seawolves go on a 5-0 run to make the score 44 seconds 66-65. A missed three pointer by the Grizzlies with 19.3 seconds gave UAA the ball but a shot with 6 seconds left was picked up by Dominguez to ice the game.
Adams State shot 24-of-60 (40 percent) from the field as Watson and Anitielu paced the way with 15 points each.
Nice to hear about Kiiyanni’s progress at Adams State. She was a very productive player when she played at a local High School. Good to hear.