ANCHORAGE/FAIRBANKS, Alaska – With the final week of the regular season here, the Western Oregon University women's basketball team will travel to Alaska to face Anchorage on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and then travel to Fairbanks on Saturday for a 2 p.m. start time. All times are Pacific Time.
It will be a quick turnaround following the road trip for the Wolves as they will then have a few days to get ready for the GNAC Tournament that will begin Wednesday, March 2.
WOU (8-15, 4-12 GNAC) enters the road trip having lost their past six games, but several have come right down to the final seconds. Including the past two games with WOU going to overtime with Seattle Pacific before the Falcons held on for the two-point win. The game before that, the Wolves nearly went overtime or pulled out the win against Northwest Nazarene before the Nighthawks used a late layup to take the one-point win. Earlier on the homestand, WOU faced Alaska Anchorage and played a tight game with the Seawolves before falling just short by eight.
WOU enters the week 8-15 overall and 4-12 in GNAC play. The Wolves are ranked eighth in the GNAC Points Rating System and doesn't include the game against Seattle Pacific on Monday. The first round of the tournament, seeds 7-10, will take place on the first day.
WOU wasn't able to play both Alaska schools back-to-back at the start of the season, facing only Alaska Fairbanks a few weeks into the conference schedule and the Wolves picked up the 80-68 win in Monmouth on Jan. 11. WOU then went against Alaska Anchorage nearly a month later on Feb. 8 in Monmouth with the Seawolves taking the 73-65 victory.
WOU is averaging 62.5 points per game, making 523-1,374 (38.1) from the field, 120-449 (26.7) from three and 272-393 (69.2) at the foul line. The Wolves average 38.6 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 8.3 steals and 4.7 blocks. Opponents average 65.5 points, making 528-1,351 (39.1) from the field, 144-438 (32.9) from three and 307-452 (67.9) at the foul line. Opponents average 37.3 rebounds, 13.3 assists, 9.1 steals and 2.5 blocks.
Meadow Aragon averages 10.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 35 blocks, 21 steals, 20 assists, 81 field goals and is shooting almost 50 percent (81-164) from the field. Aragon leads the Wolves in scoring, rebounds, blocks and field goals, while averaging 24.3 minutes per game. Tresai McCarver adds 10.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 91 assists, 36 steals, 74 field goals and 68 free throws. McCarver leads the team in assists and free throws and is second on the team in steals and field goals. Cali McClave tallies 9.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 41 steals, 46 assists, 73 field goals and 29 three-pointers. Cali leads the Wolves in steals and three-pointers and is third on the team in scoring and field goals made. Madisyn Clark adds 6.9 points, 43 assists and has made 20 three-pointers. Alexis Wright and Makenna Gambee are at 4.8 points per game, Princy Paaluhi-Caulk is at 4.6 points, Kaelin Williams-Kennedy at 4.3 and Amber Winkler at 4.2. Winkler is second on the team in blocks with 32.
WOU will begin the road trip playing at Anchorage on Thursday. The teams just played a few weeks ago back on Feb. 8 with UAA taking the eight-point win. Cali McClave paced the Wolves with 17 points. Aragon added 11 points and Clark tallied nine points.
The Seawolves are 18-5 overall and 11-4 in GNAC play, going 7-2 at home. On the most recent road trip, UAA won by 21 at Simon Fraser and then fell by 13 at Western Washington. UAA closed the trip with an eight-point win at Central Washington this past Monday.
UAA averages 70.0 points, making 559-1,397 (40) from the field, 154-470 (32.8) from three and 338-465 (72.7) from the foul line. The Seawolves average 35.6 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 12.8 steals and 1.8 blocks. Opponents average 60.4 points, making 475-1,214 (39.1) from the field, 138-429 (32.2) from three and 301-407 (74) from the foul line. Opponents average 34.3 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 6.7 steals and 3.0 blocks.
Tennae Voliva leads the team averaging 12.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 50 steals and 41 assists. Nicole Pinkney adds 8.1 points, 75 assists and 29 steals. Jahnna Hajdukovich tallies 7.5 points, Sala Langi is at 7.4 points and Lauren Johnson is at 7.1 points. Seven players average at least 6.5 points per game.
UAA holds a 35-6 series record against WOU since 2000 and have won the past 34 meetings in the series. UAA is 17-3 at home against the Wolves with the last road win coming in 2003-04 for WOU which was a stretch of five straight wins in the series for the Wolves.
In the earlier meeting against the Nanooks, Cali McClave went for a team-high 16 points. McCarver tallied 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Clark collected 13 points and Winkler reached double-figures with 10 points and seven rebounds, along with six blocks. Casandra White chipped in nine points, hitting a trio of three-pointers in a fourth quarter surge.
UAF is 3-17 overall and 2-13 in GNAC play, coming off of a home win this past Tuesday against Simon Fraser. The win snapped a six-game losing streak as the Nanooks picked up a road win against Montana State Billings and then hadn't tallied another win until this past Tuesday with a two-point win over Simon Fraser. That was UAF's first home win of the season improving to 1-9.
The Nanooks average 62.6 points, making 469-1,294 (36.2) from the field, 122-436 (28) from three and 192-285 (67.4) from the foul line. The Nanooks average 36.5 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 8.5 steals and 3.6 blocks. Opponents average 74.9 points, making 527-1,357 (38.8) from the field, 128-473 (27.1) from three and 315-451 (69.8) from the foul line. Opponents average 43.9 rebounds, 17.7 assists, 11.3 steals and 3.3 blocks.
Pearle Green leads UAF averaging 14.8 points, along with 43 assists and 30 steals. She also has 58 three-pointers. Destiny Reimers adds 11.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 49 assists and 31 steals. Claudia Diez Marti tallies 10.1 points, 35 assists and 17 steals.
WOU holds a 23-18 series record against UAF since 2000 and have won the past two meetings both in Monmouth. UAF is 13-7 against WOU in Fairbanks and have won the past two meetings at home.
Live video and stats will be available for both games.
For the game at Alaska Anchorage: Live video can be found here and live stats can be found here
For the game at Alaska Fairbanks: Live video can be found here and live stats can be found here
