Sunday, January 20, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. - Guard Corinn Waltrip scored a game and career-high 24 points as Western Washington held off a late Montana State Billings rally to claim a 78-76 GNAC victory Saturday at Sam Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham.

The Vikings (13-2,7-0), who stayed one game ahead of Simon Fraser (13-2, 6-1) in the GNAC race, hit 11 of 22 three-point shots in an 83-63 home win over Seattle Pacific (10-6, 4-4). 

Northwest Nazarene (13-2, 5-2) remained two back of the Vikings earning their eighth straight win with a 59-50 victory at Alaska Fairbanks (2-13, 0-7).

That completed a two-game sweep for the Crusaders, a feat also matched by Central Washington (for the first time since 2004-05) which defeated Alaska Anchorage 74-64 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Saint Martin’s (10-7, 3-4), meanwhile, earned a 54-47 road win at Western Oregon (6-11, 1-6), earning its sixth win in its last eight contests.

Western Washington, which is rated No.8 in the latest USA Today Sports/ESPN NCAA Division II Top 25 poll, recorded its seventh consecutive victory.

A Waltrip 3-pointer gave WWU, which is 9-0 at home this season, a 74-65 lead with 4:20 remaining, before MSUB fought back, pulling to within two (74-72) on a basket by Bobbi Knudsen with 1:53 remaining.

Waltrip then hit four free throws in the final 1:15 to put the game out of reach.  The Yellowjackets closed the final gap to two points on a layup at the buzzer by Janiel Olson, who had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

In addition to Waltrip, Western Washington got 11 points and five assists from Trishi Williams and 10 points and seven rebounds from Sarah Hill in extending its home win streak to 13 games.

Knudsen led MSUB (11-5, 5-3) with 21 points and Kayleen Goggins netted 20 points.  Brooke Tolman had 10 points.

Simon Fraser 83, Seattle Pacific 63

Kia Van Laare was perfect from the arc connecting on 4 of 4 three-point shots as Simon Fraser used superb shooting to beat Seattle Pacific.

SFU finished the contest shooting 60.0 percent, (33 of 55), just the seventh time in GNAC history a team has shot 60 percent in a conference game.

“Simon Fraser is probably one of the best offensive teams I've seen in our conference in the eight years I've been here,” SPU coach Julie Heisey said. “They're just so solid. Their bench scored a lot of points (a 30-8 advantage) – they're so deep.”

SPU took a quick 14-8 lead and was still up 18-15 on a 12-footer from the right corner by Riley Butler, who had 12 points, with 14:11 left in the first half.

But the Clan ran off the next 17 points to go up 32-18. They kept the Falcons off the board for 6 minutes, 51 seconds, forcing SPU into seven turnovers that they converted into 14 points – 12 of them from downtown.

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe led SFU with 20 points, cashing in on nine of 11 shots, while Erin Chambers scored 15 and Kristina Collins had 14 points.

Aubree Collins paced Seattle Pacific with 19 points, making 3 of 5 treys, and seven rebounds and also had four assists.  Suzanna Ohlse added 13 points.

Northwest Nazarene 59, Alaska Fairbanks 50

The Crusaders, who haven’t loss since Dec. 1, got 14 points, 12 rebounds and six steals from Megan Hingston in defeating Alaska Fairbanks 59-50 at the Patty Center.

Chelsie Luke also had 11 points and seven rebounds in the victory.

Benissa Bulaya paced the Nanooks with 12 points, while Kelly Logue had seven rebounds and six steals.   Taylor Altenburg was also credited with six steals.

Central Washington 74, Alaska Anchorage 64

Central Washington guard Leslie Stillar had 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to lead the Wildcats past UAA at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Seawolves (8-7, 2-5) were led by Alysa Horn and freshman guard Jessica Madison with 16 points each.

UAA led 39-22 late in the first half, but rallied for a 50-45 lead in the second half.  The Wildcats (8-7, 3-4), however, outscored the Seawolves 29-14 down the stretch to snap an 11-game losing streak in the series, posting their first win over UAA since 2007.

Stillar made four of seven three-pointers as the Wildcats converted on 10 of 25 treys.  Center Jasmine Parker had 14 points and eight rebounds, while guard Hannah Shine had 14 points.

Saint Martin’s 54, Western Oregon 47

Chelsea Haskey netted 14 points and also had nine rebounds as the Saints won their third conference game in their last four outings.

The Saints, who bolted to an early 16-0 lead before Western Oregon bounced back to briefly take a 35-34 lead midway through the second half, also got 13 points from Jordyn Richardson, who converted on four of eight three-point shots.

Mariah Durian paced Western Oregon with 14 points.  Chantel Divilbiss had 11 points.