FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Trailing by three after the first quarter, the Western Oregon University women's basketball team turned it on in the second and third quarters. WOU piled up 50 points over the 20 minutes to take a commanding lead on their way to claiming the 82-70 win over Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday afternoon in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
There were big efforts all-around with Tresai McCarver and Princy Paaluhi-Caulk each tallying 13 points apiece. McCarver added six rebounds and five assists in 35 minutes. Paaluhi-Caulk added five rebounds and four assists. Ana McClave tallied 11 points and five rebounds, while Alexis Wright was approaching a double-double with 10 points and seven rebounds. WOU went 30-60 (50) from the field, 6-18 (33.3) from three and 16-23 (69.6) at the foul line. The Wolves held advantages in points off turnovers (16-11), bench points (34-21) and fastbreak points (10-6).
WOU (9-16, 5-13 GNAC) ended up trailing by six early in the second quarter off of a three-point-play by Claudia Diez Marti. The Wolves came back with a jumper by McCarver that helped ignite a 10-0 run. Then a technical foul on the next trip down the floor by the Nanooks (3-19, 2-15 GNAC) helped provide four points for the Wolves. Madisyn Clark hit all four free throws, as she was fouled on the play and then hit the two tech free throws. Kaelin Williams-Kennedy added a jumper in the paint and then off of a steal by Ana McClave, Williams-Kennedy converted a jumper to close the 10-0 run that left WOU ahead at 27-23.
Wright put together a strong three-point spurt midway through the quarter hitting a free throw and then off of an offensive rebound, Wright hit the layup to move WOU out to a 35-28 lead. The Wolves kept the lead the rest of the half, as a three-pointer by Casandra White helped WOU hold the 42-38 lead at halftime.
Alaska Fairbanks fought back to tie the game on a couple of occasions in the third quarter before the Wolves began to pull away. After coming back to tie the game at 50, WOU outscored the Nanooks 17-6 the rest of the third to take an 11-point lead. Cali McCalve, McCarver, Ana McClave and Wright all contributed points over the final minutes of the quarter to give WOU the 67-56 lead going to the fourth.
WOU continued the run right into the fourth quarter with Cali McClave hitting a layup and after a layup by Paaluhi-Caulk, Amber Winkler closed the quick 6-0 start to the fourth with a jumper to boost the Wolves out to the 73-56 lead. Alaska Fairbanks would get no closer than nine the rest of the way with WOU taking the 12-point victory.
Early on, WOU moved out to the 7-6 lead a couple minutes into the opening quarter on a triple by Winkler. The Nanooks had the lead out to six a couple of times before a three-point-play by Wright cap the first 10 minutes and had the Wolves to within three heading to the second quarter.
Paola Perez-Mendoza led the Nanooks with a game-high 18 points, along with six rebounds. Diez Marti added 12 points and Ellen Silva gave Alaska Fairbanks three in double-figures with 10 points and eight rebounds. UAF went 27-68 (39.7) from the field, 1-14 (7.1) from three and 15-20 (75) at the foul line.
WOU will now prepare for the GNAC Championships that will start this coming Wednesday that will be hosted by both Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific. The Wolves' seed will be determined by the Points Rating System that will be decided once all games are completed on Saturday. WOU entered the week as the eighth seed, which doesn't include the three games this week against Seattle Pacific, Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks.
