Friday, March 9, 2018

AZUSA, Calif. – Meeting for the third time this year, No. 5 seed Alaska Anchorage topped No. 4 seed Northwest Nazarene in dramatic fashion to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II West Regional.

With 1.7 seconds on the clock, Alaska Anchorage sophomore Yazmeen Goo connected on a game-winning layup to give the Seawolves a 65-63 victory inside Azusa Pacific University’s Felix Event Center.

Alaska Anchorage (26-4) will play the winner of No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific and No. 8 seed Humboldt State Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific). Northwest Nazarene ends the season 22-5.

Junior Hannah Wandersee paced the UAA offense with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds. She was joined by Goo and Kian McNair as the only other Seawolves in double-figure point totals. Goo finished the night with 13 while McNair supplied 12 to go along with five assists.

Tied at 63 with 17 seconds left in the contest, Goo had a chance to seal the game at the charity stripe. Despite missing her two attempts, freshman Sala Langi corralled the offensive board and found Goo for the left-handed runner through traffic. 

Northwest Nazarene sophomore Avery Albrecht finished the night with a team-high 18 points while senior Colette Gall pumped in 10 points. The Nighthawks were limited to just 21.2 percent shooting in the second half.

With the Seawolves up 10 at the 6:12 mark of the final period, Northwest Nazarene stormed on a 9-0 run to close the gap 57-56 with 4:06 remaining in the contest. Despite the Nighthawks tying the game at 59 with a little over two minutes to play, UAA was able to hold Northwest Nazarene to 1 for 5 shooting in the final 1:32.