ANCHORAGE, Alaska – After Princy Paaluhi-Caulk hit a jumper from just inside the arc to move the Western Oregon University women's basketball team ahead with 1.9 seconds left, everything looked good for the Wolves. But out of a timeout, Alaska Anchorage drew up a play to Jahnna Hajdukovich as she curled out near the wing and caught a perfect in-bounds pass from Stephanie Jackson and was able to get loose for a three-pointer at the buzzer that went through as the horn sounded to give the Seawolves the 66-65 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory on Thursday night.
It was a tough way to end the night for the Wolves, as they again went toe-to-toe with the Seawolves. WOU was just 1.9 away from snapping the 34-game losing streak to UAA with the last win coming in Anchorage during the 2003 season.
Cali McClave went for a game-high 17 points, while adding six rebounds and four assists. Paaluhi-Caulk tallied 15 points, while Tresai McCarver went for 13 points and just missed a double-double with nine assists. Ana McClave added six rebounds and six rebounds off the bench and Amber Winkler had six points and two blocks. The Wolves went 23-52 (44.2) from the field, 7-19 (36.8) from three and 12-18 (66.7) at the foul line. WOU held a 15-14 edge in points off turnovers and 6-5 advantage in fastbreak points.
The teams went into the fourth quarter tied at 48. WOU (8-16, 4-13 GNAC) took the lead on a three-pointer by Cali McClave 24 seconds in. Alaska Anchorage (19-5, 12-4 GNAC) came back with the next four points to regain the lead.
A couple of clutch plays pushed the Wolves back in front by four. McCarver drilled a three-pointer and then Ana McClave hit a jumper off an assist by McCarver to move WOU to the 56-52 lead with 6:45 to play.
After the Seawolves pushed back in front at 58-57 with 3:12 to play, it would be edge-of-your-seat action the rest of the way. Ana McClave converted a layup off a nice assist in the lane by Paaluhi-Caulk to swing WOU back in front at 59-58. Hajdukovich, who only made two three-pointers all night with both coming in the final minutes of the game, hit her first of the night with 2:32 to play to move UAA back in front by two.
McCarver responded with a jumper 29 seconds later to tie the game at 61. Following a defensive stop, the Wolves took the lead on a jumper by Paaluhi-Caulk with 1:24 to play for the 63-61 lead.
WOU again made a defensive stop, but the loose ball was last touched by the Wolves allowing UAA to retain possession. Eventually the Seawolves would turn the ball over and WOU had a chance to take a two possession lead, but the layup was missed an UAA collected the rebound with 30 seconds to play. Lauren Johnson hit a tough layup in traffic for the Seawolves to tie the game at 63 with 18 seconds to play.
Out of a timeout, WOU had McCarver drive and eventually she found Paaluhi-Caulk on the wing who pump-faked and then stepped inside the arc to deliver the long range jumper to move the Wolves back in front at 65-63 with 1.9 to play.
That's when UAA called timeout and moved the ball into the front court where they would in-bounds in front of their own bench. Jackson then found Hajdukovich on the wing for the game-winning three as time expired.
WOU took an early 11-5 lead in the first quarter with McCarver hitting a layup and Cali McClave adding a jumper to push the lead to six. It would remain tight the rest of the opening quarter with WOU holding an 18-16 lead after the first 10 minutes.
UAA surged to start the second quarter reeling off an 11-0 run to take a 27-18 lead. WOU then flipped the script the rest of the quarter, outscoring the Seawolves 14-6 the rest of the half to pull to within one. Ana McClave hit a jumper and McCarver hit a pair from the line to boost WOU back in front at 32-31 before a late offensive rebound and putback by Kimani Fernandez gave UAA the 33-32 halftime lead.
UAA scored the first four points of the third quarter and WOU responded with the next six points to take the lead. Paaluhi-Caulk tallied three points, McCarver added a basket and Madisyn Clark hit a free throw during the run that left WOU with the 38-37 lead.
The Seawolves came back to regain the lead and then WOU closed the third strong with Paaluhi-Caulk hitting a three-pointer to move the Wolves back in front by two and Alexis Wright added two from the line for the 48-44 lead. UAA tallied the final four points of the third to send the game into the final frame tied at 48.
Tennae Voliva led UAA with 15 points and six rebounds. Jazzpher Evans added 13 points and Johnson went for 11 points and six rebounds. The Seawolves went 28-71 (39.4) from the field, 4-16 (25) from three and 6-7 (85.7) at the foul line. UAA held advantages in second chance points (19-7), bench points (21-11) and points in the paint (42-12). UAA was plus-14 in the rebounding battled (44-30), while WOU attempted 11 more free throws (18-7).
WOU continues the road trip playing at Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday starting at 2 p.m. (Pacific).
