Women's Basketball | 1/13/2011 8:32:27 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Senior forward Danielle Bellando scored a team-high 14 points off the bench but it was not enough as the Western Oregon women's basketball team fell 63-47 to No. 12 Alaska Anchorage Thursday, Jan. 13, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest in the New P.E. Building.

The loss, just WOU's second in GNAC play, drops them to 6-8 (4-2) on the season. UAA improves to 14-3 (5-1) with the victory and gains sole possession of second place in the conference standings.

Bellando (Eugene, Ore./Willamette) connected on 7-of-12 shots from the field while grabbing a team-high four rebounds. Sophomore guard Lorrie Clifford (Eagle River, Alaska/Chugiak) registered nine points and tied her season-high with five assists.

"I thought Danielle had one of her better games," WOU head coach Greg Bruce said. "For her to score 14 points against a great defensive team like UAA speaks a lot to her growth as a player. I'm very proud of her performance tonight."

Both teams started slow as the Wolves led 2-0 after almost five minutes of play. They would still lead 10-8 at the 11:51 mark but a 14-4 run by UAA would give the visitors a 22-14 lead with 5:27 left to play. Western would score nine of the next 15 points to trim the deficit to five, but back-to-back buckets by the Seawolves would put them up 32-23 with 57 second remaining. A lay-up by Clifford resulted in a 32-25 halftime score.

WOU assisted on seven of their 11 field goals in the first half and notched four steals. They shot 42.3-percent (11-26) from the field and were outrebounded by just one carom (16-15).

The two teams would trade baskets early in the second stanza before a UAA lay-up put the Seawolves up 43-33 with 13:05 left to play. Alaska Anchorage would lead by as many as 18 points, but Western would trim that lead to 12 points three different times, the last of which came at the 4:48 mark with the Wolves trailing 55-43. WOU would go on to score just two points over the final 3:33 as the Seawolves pulled away for the victory.

"I thought we fought tooth-and-nail tonight," Bruce continued. "I thought we missed our window to really extend our lead early in the first half, and against a good team like UAA, you have to take advantage of those situations. That being said, I thought we competed and played hard, and we were more physical than we have been, which was good to see."

The Wolves were held to 37.5-percent (9-24) shooting in the second half and were outrebounded 23-10. They did recorded six steals and four assists while holding to UAA to just two assists.

Senior guard Katlin McBride led the Seawolves with a career-high 24 points. Junior forward Hanna Johansson and sophomore forward Alysa Horn added 14 points apiece.

Western will finish the weekend with another home GNAC contest, this time against Alaska Fairbanks. Tip-off time is set for 2:00 pm Saturday, Jan. 15.

NOTES
Alaska Anchorage's 63 points were the lowest in five GNAC games this season . . . The Wolves forced UAA into 22 turnovers, the second-most they have committed this season . . . Western is only the fourth team in 17 tries to shoot 40-percent or better from the field against the Seawolves. The last time WOU shot better than 40-percent against UAA was Jan. 29, 2009 . . . The loss drops WOU to 1-4 when senior guard Sara Zahler (Newberg, Ore./Newberg) scores less than ten points . . . WOU's 11 assists marked the fourth straight game that Western has had double-figure dimes . . . Sophomore guard Jamie Richardson recorded three steals in the loss. She is averaging 4.6 steals in her last three games.