The UAA women's basketball team escaped the clutches of the Clan on Thursday night – and clinched a piece of the conference title in the process.
Buoyed by big games from Jenna Buchanan and Alli Madison, the top-ranked Seawolves held off a determined Simon Fraser side for a 63-59 Great Northwest Conference win in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Buchanan and Madison provided clutch performances in the win, UAA's first since being named the nation's No. 1 NCAA Division II women's team earlier this week. Buchanan scored a game-high 19 points and Madison pumped in 14, including 10 in the final nine minutes of the game.
The duo was money down the stretch, combining for 12 of UAA's final 15 points. Buchanan's runner with just over two minutes left gave UAA a 56-55 lead, and her jumper on the next possession made it 58-55. Madison's two free throws stretched the lead to five, and Simon Fraser couldn't get close enough in the final minute to muster a potential game-tying shot.
UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy said Alli Madison delivered a crucial pep talk in the waning minutes.
"Alli just grabbed everyone and said, 'we're not losing,' " McCarthy said.
Thanks to Seattle Pacific's 68-52 loss to Saint Martin's on Thursday, the win clinched at least a share of the GNAC title for the Seawolves.
"We're super excited about that," he said. "It's always nice when people help you out a little bit."
The win means UAA has a chance to clinch the conference title outright at rival Western Washington on Saturday.
"That's what it's all about," McCarthy said.
UAA (24-1 overall, 14-1 GNAC) led by 12 points in the first half, but the Clan used an avalanche of 3-pointers to make things interesting in the second half. Simon Fraser (13-11, 9-7) nailed nine treys, including three by Ellen Kett and two each from Alisha Roberts and Elisa Homer. Erin Chambers had a team-high 15 points on 6-of-20 shooting to lead the Clan and Meg Wilson added 13 points and six boards.
Megan Mullings had 11 points and six rebounds for UAA, which also got 10 points from Jessica Madison, eight rebounds from Alysha Devine and five assists from Kiki Robertson.
The win was the 12th in a row for UAA, whose only official loss was a home defeat to Northwest Nazarene on New Year's Day. UAA also lost to Division I Long Beach State at the Great Alaska Shootout in November, but that game counted as an exhibition and didn't count as an official loss.
After a sluggish start by both teams, UAA came alive behind Buchanan, who nailed a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight straight points during a 10-0 run that gave the Seawolves a double-digit lead midway through the first half.
The Seawolves pushed their lead to as many as 12 points behind 10 early points from Buchanan and eight from Mullings, but the Clan cut the lead to 29-21 on back-to-back buckets from Meg Wilson – the second coming just as the buzzer sounded to end the half.
The first half was a sloppy affair, with UAA committing 12 turnovers while forcing the Clan to give up the rock 15 times.
The Clan clawed back early in the second half, taking a 36-33 lead five minutes into the frame when Katie Lowen nailed a deep trey that forced McCarthy to call timeout in an attempt to gather his troops.
Simon Fraser built its lead to as many as five points in the second half behind a trio of 3-pointers by Kett, but the Seawolves battled back behind Buchanan, whose 3-pointer from the corner tied the game at 44-44 with 10 minutes to go.
The teams continued to trade blows down the stretch. UAA got a small amount of breathing room thanks to Alli Madison, who nailed back-to-back runners in the lane to give her team a 52-47 lead with under five minutes to play. But the Clan fired back with six straight, taking a 55-54 lead on a runner by Chambers.
That was the last time they led. UAA finished the game on a 9-4 run to close out the win.
The victory marked the first UAA win in British Columbia since 2011 and was its second win in seven tries on the Clan's home floor.
Next up for the Seawolves is a Saturday night showdown against fellow GNAC power Western Washington (18-7, 12-4), which took sole possession of second place with a 91-60 thrashing of UAF on Thursday in Bellingham. UAA took a 71-58 win last month in Anchorage, and a victory in the second meeting would clinch sole possession of the GNAC regular-season title for the Seawolves.