Saturday, March 10, 2012

Center Hanna Johansson scored 13 points to lead a balanced Alaska Anchorage effort Friday as the Seawolves outlasted seventh-seed Cal State L.A. for a 65-56 victory in the NCAA Division II West Regional Women's Basketball Championships at UC San Diego's RIMAC Arena.

With the victory, nationally eighth-ranked UAA (28-4) advances to the regional semifinals for the sixth straight year, where it will meet third seed and nationally 13th -ranked Grand Canyon (24-3) at 5 p.m. Saturday. Grand Canyon eliminated Cal Poly Pomona 49-48.

The 7:30 p.m. semifinal will send fourth-seed Western Washington, a 65-58 winner against Cal State Monterey Bay, against top-seed UC San Diego, which beat No. 8 Chico State 84-66.

Cal State L.A. (18-12) was led by a game-high 17 points from guard Jazzi Johnson, but the Golden Eagles could not keep up with the Alaska Anchorage on the boards, getting outrebounded 49-31.

“We're fortunate that we got out of that game,” said Seawolves head coach Tim Moser, who improved to 12-5 in NCAA tournament play.

“I thought Cal State L.A. had a great game plan for us and they knew some of our stuff. I give them a lot of credit. Coach (Janell) Jones did a tremendous job.

"They put us under a lot of pressure, but we'll learn from it and hopefully we'll do better against a very good Grand Canyon team tomorrow.”

Johansson helped the Seawolves overcome an early 9-4 deficit to forge a 29-23 halftime lead, tallying 11 of her 13 points and all of her seven rebounds and three assists in the opening 20 minutes.

CSULA played a more aggressive defense in the second half, forcing UAA to commit 24 turnovers in the game.

But the Seawolves took advantage of the Eagles' closing-half shooting woes by draining their shots from both the arc and the charity stripe. The Eagles shot a dismal 8 for 29 (27.6 percent) from the paint in the second half.

UAA maintained its lead throughout the second half, leading by as many as 14 when senior guard/forward Tijera Mathews hit a free throw with 3:04 remaining to make it 56-42.

The Eagles whittled the lead down to eight at 59-51 when Johnson drilled both of her free throws with 52 seconds to play, but they could get no closer.

Point guard Sasha King tallied 12 points and tied her career-high with six rebounds for UAA, while guard Haley Holmstead overcame early foul trouble to finish with 10 points, two assists and three steals.

Western Washington 65, Cal State Monterey Bay 58

Guard Corinn Waltrip had 15 points, including the go-ahead basket with 2:35 to play, as Western Washington (22-7) earned a seven-point win.

Guard Jessica Fontenette led the Otters (21-8) with 15 points, six assists and five steals.

The Vikings shot 50.0 percent (14-of-28) from the field in the first half and held a 36-22 halftime lead.

But CSUMB stormed back early in the second half, using an 18-6 burst over the first six minutes to pull within two at 42-40. The Otters eventually tied the game at 50-50 on a fastbreak layin by Fontenette with 9:50 to play.

From there, there were three ties and six lead changes before Waltrip hit a driving layin from the left side to give WWU a 59-58 lead.

The Vikings then held the Otters scoreless the rest of the way, forcing turnovers on the next two possessions and securing the final margin by hitting six consecutive free throws.

“Monterey Bay played great in the second half, and it seemed like we were playing not to lose,” said WWU coach Carmen Dolfo. “But we showed a lot of composure to recover. Our blocking out was key, we were able to keep them to one shot.”

Forward Kristin Schramm had 14 points for the Vikings and center Britt Harris added 12. Guard Trishi Williams netted nine points and had a game-high 10 rebounds as the Vikings had a 46-30 advantage on the boards.

WWU trailed only once in the first half (2-0) but led just 14-13, with 11 minutes left in the period before scoring nine straight points to take a 23-13 lead on a three-pointer by Katie Colardwith just under seven minutes left in the half.

Danielle Padilla and Brittani Jefferson came off the bench to contribute 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Otters, who were held to 35.5 percent (22-of-62) field goal shooting, including 28.1 percent (9-of-32) in the first half.

The victory was WWU's first opening-round regional win since 2007.