MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University women's basketball team kept chipping away and were within striking distance down the stretch before Alaska Anchorage held on for the 73-65 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory Tuesday night inside New PE Gym.
"I'm really proud of how we played tonight. We fought hard on both ends and I thought we played poised and confident. Looking at the stat sheet, you would think we won the game, there were so many positives. We made five more baskets, were right there rebounding and had more assists than turnovers. it just came down to free throws. We've proved we can play with anyone in this league and I'm excited for this team to continue to compete and make a playoff run," head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said.
Cali McClave had a big night for the Wolves with a game-high 17 points, going 7-16 from the field, 3-7 from three and also added four assists, three steals and two rebounds. Meadow Aragon reached double-figures in scoring with 11 points and added two rebounds, a block and a steal. Madisyn Clark chipped in nine points and two assists. Tresai McCarver dished out five assists and Amber Winkler added two blocks.
Trailing by as many as 14 late in the third quarter, WOU (8-10, 4-7 GNAC) came charging back. Free throws by Clark and then a three-pointer by Cali McClave had the lead trimmed to eight before a basket by Jazzpher Evans had UAA (15-4, 8-3 GNAC) holding a 50-40 lead entering the final quarter.
Cali McClave continued her hot shooting right into the final frame connecting on a jumper 16 seconds in. Following a big run by the Seawolves over the next several minutes had the lead out to 15, WOU again came fighting back. Ana McClave took a pass from sister Cali on the wing and hit a big three to cut the deficit back to nine. After the lead went back to 11, Cali McClave hit a layup and then dialed long distance to leave WOU down just six at 62-56 with 2:40 to play.
UAA recovered with free throws by Tenna Voliva and the Wolves couldn't get the deficit any lower the seven the rest of the way.
Early on, UAA controlled play in the first quarter and jumped out to a 20-9 lead. Winkler hit a foul shot before a jumper in the corner by Kaelin Williams-Kennedy had WOU within eight after the opening quarter.
WOU carried the momentum right in to the second quarter with Alexis Wright hitting a jumper and after a layup by Williams-Kennedy, Clark hit a three-pointer to pull the Wolves to within one at 20-19. UAA outscored WOU by six the remainder of the half to take a 32-25 lead into halftime.
In a theme of the night, the Seawolves had the lead back out to double-digits early in the third quarter, just to watch WOU fight right back. Trailing by 12, the Wolves used a 6-0 run to cut the deficit in half. Following a free throw by Wright, McCarver hit a jumper and Cali McClave capped the run with a three-pointer. That setup the final minutes of the third and into the fourth quarter.
WOU went 23-59 (39) from the field, 6-22 (27.3) from three and 13-18 (72.2) at the foul line. The Wolves held a 26-16 edge on points in the paint.
Jahnna Hajdukovich and Voliva led UAA with 16 points apiece. Voliva also added seven rebounds. The Seawolves went 18-48 (37.5) from the field, 7-16 (43.8) from three and 30-37 (81.1) at the foul line. UAA held solid advantages on points off turnovers (21-10) and bench points (25-15), in addition to shooting 19 more free throws.
WOU will now hit the road for the rest of this week playing at Seattle Pacific on Thursday at 7 p.m. and then at Montana State Billings on Saturday beginning at 6 p.m. (Pacific).
