With starting junior point guard Kaitlin McBride in foul trouble and senior Kiki Taylor not yet ready to play extended minutes against the lightning-quick Cal Poly Pomona guards, UAA put Nikki Aden in charge in the second half.
She took over.
The junior from Oregon exploded for 15 of her 17 points in the second half and the Seawolves dominated the final 20 minutes to post a 69-50 victory over five-time national champion Cal Poly Pomona in the opening round of the Division II West Region playoffs at Seattle Pacific.
"It was a bit nerve-wracking, being the quarterback out there," said Aden, who has been backing up McBride since Taylor was injured midseason. "I just brought the ball up, set up the play and just kind of went from there. The reason I scored more was that I just got into the flow of things."
Not only did Aden run the offense, she also had a big hand in shutting down Pomona's leading scorer, junior guard Reyana Colson. Colson, who entered the game averaging 16.8 points a contest, was held to 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting and had two points in the second half.
"Nikki had the best game of her career. She did a great job on both ends," UAA coach Tim Moser said. "She did a great job on defense, hit some big shots and ran the show. Her competitive nature showed itself."
UAA held Pomona to 18 second-half points on 26-percent shooting.
The victory set up a semifinal showdown with Seattle Pacific at 6:30 p.m. today. Top-seeded SPU beat Hawaii Pacific in Friday's late game.
UAA beat SPU in the Falcons' Royal Brougham Pavilion for the region championship each of the past two years, but the Falcons swept the Seawolves in the regular season this year, including a 67-60 win a week ago that clinched the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title.
"It's become a tradition, it seems, the last three years," Aden said of UAA's 7-0 postseason mark on SPU's home court. "We're pretty excited. We want to see SPU again, we didn't like how it ended last time. We have the answers, we've gone over our game plan. We just have to tweak a few things. It comes down to concentration and heart and pride."
Against Pomona the Seawolves clogged the lane and tried to keep the Broncos' quick guards from penetrating, often leaving the outside shooters open. Against SPU the Seawolves need to stay out on the Falcons' shooters.
"It's kind of funny because the way we played defense today is the exact opposite of what we have to do tomorrow," Moser said. "Cal Poly relies so much on penetration. You can't get out and pressure them because they can blow right by you. So we made them play to their weakness. SPU, you have to get out on, because they have such great shooters."
After a sluggish first half in which both teams shot poorly from the field, Cal Poly Pomona used a 6-0 spurt surrounding the halftime break to take its first lead of the game, and the Broncos seemed to be on the verge of gaining the upper hand against UAA.
The moment didn't last long.
Baskets from Kelsie Gourdin and Hanna Johansson, a charge taken by Tamar Gruwell, a 3-pointer by Nikki Aden and a 3-point play by Johansson had the Seawolves off and running, turning a 34-30 deficit into a 40-34 advantage.
"Our kids, I thought we had a pretty good game plan, and they brought it to life in the second half," Moser said. "We moved the ball well and for a couple possessions there played offense better than we have all year."
Senior guard Leah Stepovich scored all seven of her points in the second, including a couple of breakaway buckets.
Johansson, a sophomore forward, grabbed her first career double-double with a game-high 18 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
"(Hanna) has really started to come into her own," Moser said. "We're fortunate to have her for another couple years. I'm expecting her to be one of the best players in the GNAC, if not in the country, in a couple years."
Gruwell, a senior guard, added 13 points, including three big 3-point baskets. Gourdin, a junior forward, added 10 points.
The Seawolves hit their first 19 free-throw attempts in the game and finished 22 of 25 from the line.
UAA was outrebounded 21-17 in the first half but held a 22-15 advantage on the boards in the second half.
Taylor, who broke a bone in her foot in the middle of the season, played a little over a minute late in the game. She is expected to see more playing time against SPU.
"We wanted to slowly ease her in," Moser said. "(Pomona) has one of the most athletic teams I've seen. (Colson) is so quick that I wanted to try to get Kiki in when she wasn't in the game, but she didn't come out very much."
In other first-round games, No. 7 Humboldt State upset No. 2 UC San Diego 76-72 and No. 6 Chico State downed No. 3 Western Washington 79-68.
Humboldt State and Chico State play at 4 p.m. today with the winner meeting the SPU/UAA winner in the championship game at 6 p.m. Monday.
Find Richard Larson online at adn.com/contact/rlarson or call 257-4335.
Pomona 31 18 -- 50
UAA 30 39 -- 69
Cal Poly Pomona -- Walton 2-5 8-10 12; Duran 4-9 2-5 11; Colson 3-15 3-4 10; Simon-West 4-8 1-1 9; Ford 2-5 0-0 4; Brown 1-1 0-0 2; White 1-2 0-0 2; Porter 0-0 0-0 0; Derby 0-0 0-0 0; Bryant 0-3 0-0 0; Beard 0-4 0-0 0; Beridon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-52 14-20 50.
UAA -- Johansson 7-13 4-5 18; Aden 4-9 6-6 17; Gruwell 3-8 4-4 13; Gourdin 2-8 6-6 10; Stepovich 3-6 0-0 7; Miller 1-8 2-2 4; Horn 0-1 0-2 0; Herrin 0-2 0-0 0; Larsen 0-0 0-0 0; McBride 0-2 0-0 0; Taylor 0-0 0-0 0; Nenbee 0-0 0-0 0; Collins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 22-25 69.
3-point goals -- Pomona 2-12 (Duran 1-4; Colson 1-2; Bryant 0-3; Simon-West), UAA 7-20 (Aden 3-5; Gruwell 3-8; Stepovich 1-3; Horn 0-1; Herrin 0-1; Miller 0-1; Gourdin 0-1). Fouled out -- Pomona: None. UAA: McBride. Rebounds -- Pomona 36 (Walton 11), UAA 39 (Johansson 10). Assists -- Pomona 8 (Walton 3; Colson 3), UAA 12 (Johansson 2; McBride 2; Gourdin 2; Gruwell 2; Aden 2). Fouls -- Pomona 21, UAA 16. Technical fouls -- None.
A -- 310.
By RICHARD LARSON
rlarson@adn.com