Friday, March 6, 2015

BILLINGS, Mont. - Megan Mullings' layup with 3:07 left gave Alaska Anchorage a 56-54 lead and the nationally No. 1 ranked Seawolves went on to defeat Simon Fraser 59-56 Friday in the second semifinal of the GNAC Women's Basketball Championships at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

The Seawolves (28-1), who have won 16 in a row, will play Western Washington (21-8) in Saturday's 5:15 p.m. (Mountain Time) championship game. 

The winner will earn an automatic berth in next week's NCAA West Regionals.  By virtue of its No. 1 regional ranking, UAA is already assured of a spot in the regionals win or lose. 

Western Washington wasn't ranked in this week's regional Top 10 and will need a victory to advance to the regionals which begin next Friday (March 13).  The regional qualifiers will be announced Sunday at 7 p.m. (Pacific Time) with a webcast on ncaa.com.

Mullings and Jenna Buchanan each had 16 points and KeKe Wright had 12 points to pace UAA to the victory.  Point guard Kiki Robertson also played a decisive role in the victory scoring six points, but also contributing four rebounds, five assists and three steals.

UAA's defense had a total of 14 steals, including five by Alysha Devine, as it forced the Clan into 23 turnovers.

SFU, which led by as many as six points in the second half, was paced by Erin Chambers, the GNAC's all-time leading scorer, with 20 points.  Elisa Homer had 11 points.  Meg Wilson added seven points and 11 rebounds and Ellen Kett had a game-high six assists.

Simon Fraser's final six-point lead came at 54-48 with 7:02 remaining, however consecutive baskets by Robertson, Wright and Buchanan pulled the Seawolves even at 54-54 with 4:55 left on the clock.

Mullings and Alli Madison followed with baskets and Mullings then made one of two foul shots to complete an 11-0 run as Simon Fraser went scoreless for over five minutes before climbing to within three points (59-56) on a basket by Homer with 40 seconds left.

That set up a wild finish which saw SFU miss three potential game-tying three-pointers in the final 12 seconds.

The loss ended the season for Simon Fraser, which finished with a 15-13 record.  Chambers finished her career with 1,946 points.