Saturday, March 11, 2017

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Simon Fraser pulled off a massive upset in the all-GNAC semifinal on Saturday, knocking out No. 1 seed Alaska Anchorage 80-70 on Saturday night in front of a stunned crowd at the Alaska Airlines Center.

After dropping both regular season meetings against the GNAC regular season and tournament champion Alaska Anchorage, the Clan used a 25-5 scoring run to start the second half, which proved to be enough to end the Seawolves’ 26-game winning streak. This is Simon Fraser’s second trip to the NCAA West Regional final since joining NCAA Division II. The last time the Clan (26-7) reached this stage, Western Washington ended the run with a 75-58 win in the regional final.

Simon Fraser will next play No. 2 seed California Baptist, who defeated Western Washington in the first semifinal of the day. The championship game will be played at 7 p.m. (Alaska) on Monday.

The loss wraps up Alaska Anchorage’s season at 30-2. This was their first loss all season against a Division II program. Alaska Anchorage’s 26-game winning streak was a program record and was just four wins away from the GNAC record.

The Seawolves pulled to within six in the final period, but Sophie Swant and Ozi Nwabuko each made lay-ups on the other end of the floor to push the lead back to double digits. The closest UAA got for the rest of the game was a 7-point deficit in the final two minutes.

The last time Simon Fraser beat UAA was the regular season finale in 2016 when Ellen Kett recorded a triple-double to defeat the No. 1-ranked team in Division II. The senior put together another valiant performance, scoring 13 points with six assists while wearing a brace after an injury in the first round.

The Clan needed a few other players to step up with leading scorer Meg Wilson out for the second game in a row with an injury. Again it was Swant answering the bell with a team-high 18 points to go with four rebounds and four assists. Freshman point guard Tayler Drynan needed just 12 minutes of play to rack up 11 points, making all four shot attempts with three from beyond the arc.

It was Rachel Fradgley, however, who nearly pulled off the triple-double this time around with 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. It’s the fifth consecutive game in which the junior forward has led the Clan in rebounding. Nwabuko also added nine points and five rebounds.

Senior Kiki Robertson put her name in the GNAC record books in the final game of her collegiate career. Robertson tallied four steals, pushing her season total to a conference record 109 steals. Autummn Williams led the Seawolves in scoring with 18 points and Shelby Cloninger added 16 to go along with Hannah Wandersee’s 14 points.

Robertson ends her career as the GNAC's all-time career leader in assists, steals and games started, starting her 128th game at UAA. During her four years at UAA, the team had a combined record of 116-16, including two West Region No. 1 seeds and a trip to the national championship game last year.