by Alex Dean
ROCKLIN, Calif. – The Nanooks women’s basketball team picked up its second win of the season on Saturday afternoon, taking down Jessup in its second game of the Bill Holtz Warrior Classic to improve to 2-0. Destiny Reimers paced the squad with 16 points during the contest, while Emily Freeman and Anna Nevison both posted nine points, going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Alaska opened up a 15-0 lead to start the game, with Reimers knocking down a layup and three. Nevison and Jayda Van Dyke also sank threes during the run. Jessup got its first points off a pair of free throws with 1:48 left in the quarter, but Freeman responded with her first three-pointer of the game. A Kayla Johnson layup gave the Nanooks 19 points in the opening 10 minutes, and they held a 19-4 advantage heading into the first break. Alaska posted its highest shooting marks in the first quarter, going 40% from the floor and 44.4% from three.
Tristian Martin started the second by converting a free throw and Miranda Lomax followed with a layup on the following possession, putting the Nanooks ahead 22-4. Jessup answered with a 9-2 run, bringing Alaska’s lead down to 11, but seven straight Alaska points made it a 31-13 score with 2:46 left. Jessup’s Andheya Aurelio and Lomax traded threes before a McKayla Hart layup put the Nanooks up 36-16 as time expired.
Amelia Brady scored four of Alaska’s six points out of the halftime break, extending its lead to 42-18 in the first three minutes. The Warriors logged a 10-2 run following Brady’s second basket, but Nevison countered by making two shots from deep, reestablishing a 20+ point Nanooks lead at 50-28. Freeman joined her in converting from distance, knocking down a three to make it a 54-31 contest. After two Van Dyke free throws, Jessup ended the quarter by making four shots from the line, including knocking down three free throws with zero’s on the clock, and Alaska held a 56-35 lead heading into the fourth.
Taylor Pilot got the Nanooks on the board in the final quarter with a layup to give Alaska a 58-38 advantage. From there, it was the Reimers show, as the guard scored Alaska’s final eight points, ending the contest by draining a three to put the Nanooks up 66-48.
The Nanooks shot 36.5% from the field and 34.5% from distance compared to 23.5% and 17.2% for the Warriors. They also outscored Jessup in the paint 22 to 18.
