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| Dunn | Knudsen |
Alex Dunn recorded the first triple-double in the GNAC in nearly six years leading Central Washington to a 97-74 win against Alaska Fairbanks Saturday at Nicholson Pavilion.
Bobbi Knudsen scored 22 points and Janiel Olson had 14 rebounds to pace Montana State Billings to a convincing 69-49 home win over Western Oregon at Alterowitz Gymnasium.
Hanna Johansson was perfect from the field in a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double as 10th ranked Alaska Anchorage defeated Northwest Nazarene 79-71.
Western Washington and Seattle Pacific also recorded wins. The Vikings handed Simon Fraser its first GNAC loss defeating the Clan 76-55 and leaving UAA as the only remaining unbeaten team in league play. Seattle Pacific crushed Saint Martin's 70-39.
Dunn had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists to post just the second triple-double in CWU school history. Molly Mickle had 18 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocked shots against Eastern Oregon on Dec. 2, 1994.
The last triple double in the GNAC occurred on Feb. 18, 2006 when Alaska Anchorage's Rebecca Kielpinski had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against Saint Martin's.
CWU (4-7, 1-3) also got a pair of big halves from Sophie Russell and Melanie Valdez in its win.
Russell scored 19 of her game-high 23 points in the second half as the Wildcats, who led by just seven at the break (39-32), pulled way for the win. CWU made 22 of 41 shots in the period in outscoring the Nanooks 58-42.
Valdez netted all 16 of her points in the opening 20 minutes. CWU also got 18 points from Jessica VanDyke and 11 from Courtney Johnson as all five starters scored in double figures.
"Melanie (Valdez) did a great job offensively to keep us in the game early," CWU head coach Shawn Nelson said.
In the second half, the Wildcats used a 17-0 run over a span of 2:45, exploiting the Nanooks for four turnovers while making six of seven shots during that span.
After UAF closed to within 15 on two occasions later in the half, the margin reached 21 at the 10:31 mark and remained in the twenties the rest of the way.
Autumn Greene led the Nanooks (4-9, 0-3) with 19 points. Jacqueline Lovato came off the bench to score 18, while Nicole Bozek and Nicole Hartzog scored 15 and 10, respectively.
CWU, which ended a nine-game conference game loss streak, shot 43.4 percent for the game (33-76) and outrebounded UAF 51-39. The Nanooks made 35 percent, converting on 21 of 60.
Montana State Billings 69, Western Oregon 49
The Yellowjackets jumped to a 16-4 lead in the first 6 1/2 minutes and were never seriously challenged by the Wolves.
MSUB led by 23 (36-13) late in the first half (3:13) and were up by as many as 24 (68-44 with 2:43 left) in the second period.
WOU shot 40.4 percent, but was able to launch just 47 shots (making 19) against the MSUB defense which forced the Wolves into three second-half 30 second violations.
Knudsen had a game-high four assists in addition to her career-high 22 points. Quinn Peoples added 10 points and Olson, who had a career high for rebounds, had nine for MSUB (10-5) which leveled its conference record at 2-2.
Melissa Fowler paced Western Oregon (3-11, 2-2) with 18 points. Rylee Peterson, who came in leading the GNAC in scoring (16.9) was limited to seven points. Peterson did have nine rebounds.
MSUB, which shot 42.6 percent (26-61) dominated the backboards 44-29 and also had eight fewer turnovers (11-19). Kalli Stanhope led the 'Jacket defense with four steals.
Alaska Anchorage 79, Northwest Nazarene 71
Hanna Johansson made all eight of her shots and led Alaska Anchorage to a 39-27 rebounding advantage as the Seawolves ran their win streak to eight with a win at the Johnson Sports Complex in Nampa.
The Seawolves (12-2, 3-0), who improved to 11-0 against Division II opponents, also got 17 points and four steals from guard Haley Holmstead as they survived a late Crusader run.
The Crusaders (8-4, 2-2) were led by forward Briaunna King who scored a game-high 22 points.
Guard Alli Dzhidzhiyeshvili had 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, but NNU still suffered its seventh consecutive loss to UAA.
Johansson, a 6-2 center, continued her stellar play with her second straight double-double, powered by a school-record 100 percentage from the floor.
The Swede also tied her career-high with seven assists and added three steals and two blocks.
Forward Alysa Horn was the third Seawolf in double figures with 10 points, including the biggest shot of the game – a corner three-pointer with 56 seconds left that extended UAA's lead to 77-71.
Prior to that, the Crusaders had sliced a 17-point deficit – 64-47 with 9 minutes to play – to a one-possession game on three separate occasions.
Johansson and Holmstead had the answer each time the game got close, however, and freshman Gritt Ryder stole the ball with 31 seconds left to clinch the win.
The Seawolves shot over 50 percent (29 of 55, .527) for the fourth time in five games and outrebounded their hosts 39-27.
Western Washington 76, Simon Fraser 55
Center Britt Harris scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds lifting Western Washington to a 21-point victory over Simon Fraser at Sam Carver Gymnasium.
Center Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe had a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds for the Clan, and forward Chelsea Reist added 10 points.
The Vikings (8-3, 2-1) led by just three (22-19) with seven minutes left in the first half, but went on a 16-2 run. Guard Trishi Williams scored 10 of the points.
WWU, which led 40-25 at halftime, put the game completely out of reach, opening the second half with a 23-5 run to take a 63-30 advantage with 12:38 left.
Harris had 12 points in the run, hitting five straight shots from the field, and Corinn Waltrip had seven points.
Waltrip finished with 17 points and four assists, and extended her string of free throws without a miss to 18. Williams added 14 points and 10 rebounds, with all of the points coming in the opening half.
WWU, which has won four straight, shot 50.0 percent (29-58) from the field, including 57.1 percent (16-28) in the second half.
Harris, who was 10 of 16 from the floor, also had two steals and one blocked shot.
Simon Fraser (7-4, 2-1) shot just 38.2 percent (21-55) from the field, and were 0 of 17 on three-pointers.
Raincock-Ekunwe, who entered the contest leading the GNAC in rebounds at 15.0 a game, had just over half that and came up short of a double-double in points and rebounds for the first time in the last nine contests.
Seattle Pacific 70, Saint Martin's 39
Forward Katie Benson scored 15 points and Seattle Pacific blew open the game with a 20-0 first-half scoring spree to rout Saint Martin's.
Guard Betsy Kingma added 13 off the bench for SPU (9-3, 3-1), which won its third straight. Forward Rachel Murray and freshman guard Suzanna Ohlsen tallied 12 points each.
Chelsea Haskey led Saint Martin's (6-8, 1-3) with 18 points. No one else was in double figures for the Saints.
The Falcons had a 10-9 lead early in the first half when they started their 20-point run, with six different players contributing.
SPU kept Saint Martin's without a field goal for the final 13 minutes, 36 seconds of the half, forcing the Saints into 21 straight misses from the field.
The only points for Saint Martin's during that stretch came on two free throws, and the Falcons took a 35-11 lead into the locker room at the break.
Men's Basketball: Wolves Improve To 4-0 in GNAC
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| Wheadon | Long |
The Wolves (11-2) are off to a 4-0 GNAC start for the first time in the 11-year history of the conference.
Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage also stayed unbeaten in conference play. The Vikings (12-2, 3-0) defeated Simon Fraser 87-73.
Meanwhile, the Seawolves (9-2, 3-0) outscored Northwest Nazarene 85-62 earning their ninth consecutive victory and matching their fifth longest win streak in school history.
Elsewhere Seattle Pacific (10-3, 2-2) outscored Saint Martin's 56-41 and Alaska Fairbanks (4-9, 1-2) defeated Central Washington 91-80 in overtime earning its first conference victory of the season and dropping the defending GNAC champions to 1-3 in the conference.
Both Wheadon and Long made seven of 14 field goal attempts in Western Oregon's victory. Long also had seven rebounds.
WOU also got 11 points from Kolton Nelson, including three consecutive baskets that fueled a key 18-2 run in the first half.
Trailing 21-14 with 8:12 left in the first period, the Wolves held MSUB (7-5, 2-2) without a field goal for 13 minutes, 32 seconds to take control of the contest.
Nelson pulled WOU to within one point at 21-20 with his three baskets. Wheadon then hit a trey to put the Wolves ahead for good.
After a MSUB free throw, WOU scored nine of the final 10 points of the half to go ahead 32-23 at the break. MSUB's field goal drought continued in the second half before Antoine Proctor got a layup at the 17:24 mark.
WOU extended its lead to 17 (47-30) with 11:10 remaining. The 'Jackets rallied to within eight at 53-45 with 6:33 left but WOU then scored the next eight points to effectively close it out.
Jaxon Myaer led three players in double figures for MSUB with 16 points. Robert Mayes scored 14 points and Taylor Stevens, who had MSUB's last field goal of the first half (a trey with 10:56 left in the period), had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Proctor scored nine points and also had 11 rebounds, 10 in the opening half.
Western Washington 87, Simon Fraser 73
Forward Rory Blanche scored a game and career-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Western Washington defeated Simon Fraser at West Gymnasium on the SFU campus.
Center Dan Young, seeing his first action after missing three games with a concussion, came off the bench to contribute 12 points and grab a career-high 15 rebounds for the Vikings.
Guard Justin Brown had 19 points and five assists for the Clan (5-6, 0-3), and Connor Lewis added 16 points and five assists.
The victory was the 499th for WWU coach Brad Jackson. Jackson, who is in his 27th season, needs just one more triumph to become only the fifth collegiate coach in all divisions in the state of Washington to achieve that feat and the 40th men's coach in NCAA Division II history.
SFU led by as much as seven in the opening half and held a 40-36 lead at halftime. A Connor three-pointer to open the second half pushed the margin to seven, but then Blanche took over.
Blanche scored 16 points, including two dunks, in the next 10 minutes as WWU went on a 30-11 charge to take a 66-54 lead with 9:14 to play.
The Clan responded with 11 straight points to pull within one (66-65) with 5:49 to go, but the Vikings were able to pull away after that, using a 12-3 run to put the game out of reach.
Forward Zach Henifin had 13 points, eight rebounds and four steals for WWU, which had a 50-23 advantage in rebounds. Guard John Allen had 11 points and seven assists and guard Richard Woodworth added 10 points.
SFU, which played the game without forward Javari Williams who leads the GNAC in scoring at 23.8 points a game, got 12 points from Jordan Sergent.
Alaska Anchorage 85, Northwest Nazarene 62
Center Taylor Rohde scored 17 points and point guard Steve White had a career-high 10 assists to lead 20th-ranked Alaska Anchorage to a 23-point victory over Northwest Nazarene at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
The Seawolves shot 59.6 percent (31-52) from the field and outrebounded the Crusaders 32-23 in improving their Division II record to 5-0.
UAA also got 15 points from Travis Thompson and 13 from Kyle Fossman as the two sophomore guards combined to make 11 of 15 shots. Thompson converted six of seven including three of four treys and Fossman made five of eight. He was three of six from the arc.
Marcus Jackson contributed 10 points, four assists and no turnovers, while Abebe Demissie and Liam Gibcus chipped in eight points apiece. Demissie also had a game-high three steals.
The Crusaders (7-5, 1-3) got 15 points each from starting guards Anthony Golden and Keith Moilanen as they took 29 of their 51 total shots from behind the three-point arc.
White got the Seawolves off to a quick 7-3 lead with assists on his team's first two baskets, and UAA pulled away midway through the half with a 17-5 spurt.
First-year NNU head coach Dave Daniels was whistled for a technical foul with his team trailing 28-18 at the 6:24 mark, and UAA took all of the momentum at that point, earning a 44-24 lead at the break. The Seawolves started the second half with a 9-0 run to erase all doubt.
White topped his previous career-high of nine assists and committed just two turnovers in 26 minutes. He also added seven points on perfect shooting (2-2 FG, 3-3 FT) and came one rebound shy of his career-best with six.
Seattle Pacific 56, Saint Martin's 41
Andy Poling led all scorers with 21 points and Seattle Pacific limited Saint Martin's to 28 percent shooting en route to a 15-point win at Marcus Pavilion.
Poling completed his fourth double-double of the season with 13 rebounds. He helped SPU dominate the boards 47-22. Eleven of his points came from the free throw line where Poling got 16 attempts.
The Saints (5-8, 1-3) led only once, at 2-1 on a Brok Pendleton jumper 2:30 into the game. SPU then went on an 8-1 run, with points from four different players, to take the lead for good.
SMU shot just 15 percent (4 of 26) in the first half and missed all seven of its three-point tries.
The Falcons capitalized on that poor shooting to build a 26-15 halftime advantage. They held an opponent under 20 points in the first half for the fourth time this season.
Ryan Votaw opened the second half with a three-pointer to narrow the gap to 26-18, but that was as close at the Saints would come. SPU stretched its lead to as many as 23 points.
David Downs was the only other Falcon in double figures with 11 points. SPU converted 41 percent (16 of 39) of its shots from the floor.
Jeremy Green tallied 19 points to pace Saint Martin's, which shot 40 percent (10 of 25) in the second half to finish with 14 field goals in 51 attempts for the game.
SPU won despite committing 22 turnovers, eight of them coming off steals by Votaw who tied a record for GNAC games in the process.
The 41 points were the second-fewest surrendered this season by the Falcons, who defeated Academy of Art 63-33 on Nov. 26.
Their defense is yielding just 56.2 points per game. The school single-season record average of 61.8 points allowed was established in 1962-63.
Alaska Fairbanks 91, Central Washington 80
Guard Dominique Brinson drained a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and Alaska Fairbanks then outscored Central Washington 17-6 in the extra period to earn an 11-point victory at the Patty Center.
The victory for the Nanooks marked the first time since March 4, 2006 that they had defeated the Wildcats (7-5, 1-3), snapping a 10-game losing streak in the series. It was also head coach Mick Durham's 250th win of his career.
Trailing 73-68 with 1:32 to go, guard Nico Matthews drove through the lane for the layup to cut the deficit to three. After a missed three by CWU, Stefan Tica was fouled and made one of two, but UAF picked up the offensive rebound to maintain possession.
Tica received the inbounds pass, but his three was off the mark and Trey Gross went to the line for a pair with 17.6 left. Gross missed both free throws and freshman guard Jesse Ward nearly tied it with a fast-break layup, but it rimmed out.
Gross went back to the line with 8.2 ticks on the clock and after missing the first, he converted on the second to give CWU a 74-71 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Matthews brought it up court and dished it off to Brinson, who fired a leaning three from the right corner and it dropped with 1.1 to go to tie the game at 74-74 to force overtime.
In the extra frame, the Nanooks opened on an 8-0 run to lead 82-74 with 2:16 to go. The Wildcats never came closer than six as UAF made five of seven shots in overtime and drained seven of eight free throws, while limiting CWU to one basket in seven attempts.
Brinson led four Nanook players in double figures with a team-high 20 points, while Tica had 19 points.
Sophomore center Sergej Pucar posted his first double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Matthews also had 16 points to go with seven rebounds.
Kevin Davis led Central with 23 points and 13 rebounds and also blocked four shots. Nine of his 13 boards came off the offensive glass.
Toussaint Tyler had 13 points and nine assists. Other double figure scorers for CWU included Lacy Haddock and Jody Johnson with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
| GNAC News |
