Women's Basketball | 1/23/2010 9:21:11 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - The Western Oregon women's basketball team was outshot 34 to 14 from the charity stripe as it fell to No. 13 Alaska Anchorage 68-54, Saturday (Jan. 23), in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The loss drops WOU to 8-12 (3-3) on the season, while the Seawolves improve to 13-2 (4-1) with the victory.

UAA was led by junior guard Nikki Aden who recorded 13 points and four steals. Sophomore center Hannah Johansson scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end.

Freshman guard Jamie Richardson paced the Wolves with 13 points and three steals. Senior forward Katie Torland chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds.

“I thought Jamie came off the bench and did a really nice job for us, both offensively and defensively,” WOU head coach Greg Bruce said. “Her energy was a positive for us. Danielle Bellando also played a fine game off the bench.”

Anchorage used a 24-7 run spanning the last 7:39 of the first half and the first 4:10 of the second to take a 35-19 lead. Western responded and was able to cut the deficit to 11 with 11:57 remaining, but would get no closer as the two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the contest.

Despite the loss, the Wolves gave UAA a taste of their own medicine as their defense held the Seawolves to 36-percent shooting from the field and 13-percent from beyond the arc while Western shot 39-percent from the field and 41-percent from long range. Normally, Anchorage holds teams to 35-percent shooting and 31-percent from three-point range. UAA also outscores its opponents by an average of 25 points per contest, but was able to win by just 14.

“I was proud of the team for not folding in the second half,” Bruce explained. “We've come a long way, and we are continuing to improve. I felt we competed for 40 minutes, which is something Western Oregon has not historically done.”

WOU lost the battle on the boards 35-32, but outrebounded Anchorage 18-10 in the second half and 8-4 on the offense glass. Anchorage normally outrebounds teams by more than 12 per game. Western committed 31 turnovers, due in large part to UAA's continual use of full-court pressure for the duration of the game. Conversely, the Wolves recorded nine steals and forced 17 turnovers.

“I thought we did a much better job in the second half in general,” Bruce continued. “Our effort on the boards was better, and our execution improved. We didn't play as well as we would have liked in the first half, but I was encouraged by the second half effort.”

Western Oregon will resume GNAC play next Saturday (Jan. 30) when they travel to Bellingham, Wash., to do battle with No. 26 Western Washington. Tip-off time is set for 7:00 p.m.