Sports

UAA women play for West Region basketball crown Monday

After a blowout victory that showed they can win in the postseason and an overtime win that showed they can survive postseason pressure, the Seawolves return to the basketball court Monday on another mission.

Win the NCAA Division II West Region championship and book a ticket to the Elite Eight.

The UAA women's basketball team (35-2) will meet UC-San Diego (26-4) in the championship game at 6 p.m. ADT in Azusa, California. The winner will advance to the March 22 national quarterfinals in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The Seawolves picked up wins Friday and Saturday in California to reach Monday's title game.

They routed Cal State-Dominguez Hills 82-53 in Friday's first round for their first playoff victory since Ryan McCarthy took over as coach in the 2012-13 season. In McCarthy's first two trips to the playoffs with UAA, the Seawolves lost in the first round.

On Saturday the Seawolves trailed by eight points in the second half before edging Cal Baptist 83-79 in overtime.

Monday will mark the fourth time in school history the Seawolves will play for the West Region title. UAA won region crowns in 2012, 2009 and 2008.

ADVERTISEMENT

The game is a rematch between two teams that played a thriller at the Alaska Airlines Center in December. UAA won 76-72 despite a triple-double by UC-San Diego senior Farrah Shokoor, who delivered 18 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists. In her team's 87-77 win over Azusa Pacific on Saturday, Shokoor had 25 points and 10 rebounds.

UAA counters with double-double threat Megan Mullings, who averages a team-high 16.3 points and 6.1 rebounds. A senior in her second season with UAA, Mullings hit the 1,000-point mark for career points Saturday and has 1,009 going into Monday's game.

West Region championship

6 p.m. ADT

UAA (35-2) vs. UC-San Diego (26-4)

To watch: portal.stretchinternet.com/apu

The Peanut Farm in Anchorage also will livestream the game.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the city in California where the Seawolves will play, and of a university bearing that name. It is Azusa, California and Azusa Pacific University, not "Asuza." This story has been updated with the correct spelling.

ADVERTISEMENT