FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Western Oregon University's women's basketball team pulled within three points early in the second half, but could not complete the comeback falling by the final score of 60-47 at the hands of the Nanooks of the University of Alaska Thursday in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) play inside the Patty Center.

"We did not come ready to play and got ourselves in a hole early," said Head Coach Holli Howard-Carpenter. "Our transition defense was sub par and we got out-hustled. On the offensive end we were able to score when we executed our sets, but too many times we were playing one-on-one and that is not our strength."

Western Oregon (5-14, 2-9 GNAC) was led offensively by the duo of senior Dana Goularte and sophomore Jordan Mottershaw with 11 points each, while junior Katie Goddard and freshman Sydney Azorr chipped in with five and four points, respectively. Along with Goularte's team-high eight rebounds, junior Emily Howey crashed the boards pulling down six rebounds to go along with Goularte's game-high five assists, three blocked shots, and two steals.

For Alaska (13-9, 5-7 GNAC), Benissa Bulaya led the Nanooks with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field to go along with a double-double by Kaillee Skjold with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Bulaya also handed out a team-high three assists for Alaska, while Victoria Milton and Daron Mainville registered a game-high tying two steals apiece.

Over the opening five-plus minutes, both teams battled back-and-forth with Western Oregon earning a 10-8 lead on a three-pointer by Mottershaw with 14:26 on the clock. Over the next five minutes, Alaska used a 15-4 run en route to securing a 13-point lead (27-14) on a Bulaya jumper with 8:52 left in the opening half. The host Nanooks would push their lead to as much as 14 points (29-15) before Western Oregon used a 13-2 run over a span of five minutes to pull within 31-28 on a lay-in by freshman Jasmine Miller with 2:31 remaining. Unfortunately that would be as close as WOU would get over the final two minutes, as Alaska scored the final four points of the first half en route to securing a 35-28 lead at halftime.

The second half would begin with Western Oregon scoring the first four points to pull within three (35-32) on a lay-in by Mottershaw with just under 19 minutes left in the game. Over the next three minutes, Alaska quickly extended its lead to double digits (42-32) thanks to seven unanswered points before the visiting Wolves got within seven points (42-35) on back-to-back free throws by Goularte with 10:40 left. That would be as close as Western Oregon would get though, as Alaska closed the game on an 18-12 run en route to securing the 60-47 victory that in the process snapped the Nanooks' five-game losing streak.

As a team, Western Oregon combined to shoot 17-for-64 (26.6%) from the field that included a 7-for-20 (35.0%) performance from beyond the three-point line and a 6-for-9 (66.7%) showing at the free throw line. On the other hand, Alaska was a combined 20-for-54 (37.0%) from the field, 3-for-11 (27.3%) from long distance, and 17-for-18 (94.4%) at the charity stripe.

Western Oregon returns to action on Saturday, February 7, when the Wolves close out their longest road trip of the season against No. 2-ranked University of Alaska Anchorage beginning at 5:15 p.m. (AT) inside the Alaska Airlines Arena in Anchorage, Alaska.