The UAA women's basketball team is back in the Great Alaska Shootout championship game, this time because the Seawolves survived a shooting performance as icy as Anchorage's streets -- and because newcomer Tijera Mathews is quite the thief.
Mathews, a 5-foot-10 junior with long arms and quick feet, got four of her game-high five steals in a span of less than two minutes Tuesday night to spark UAA's 48-35 victory over San Jose State at Sullivan Arena.
The win puts the Seawolves (5-1) in their fifth straight Shootout championship. UAA will try to claim its fifth consecutive title today at 5 p.m. against Kent State, which beat Washington 59-58.
UAA coach Tim Moser improved to 9-0 in the Sdhootout, but the game, which both coaches called ugly, won't be remembered as one of the finest in his tenure.
A shooting clinic, it wasn't. The Seawolves shot 27.9 percent from the field (17 of 61) and 20.8 percent from 3-point range (5 of 24). San Jose State shot 30.4 percent from the field (14 of 46) and 20 percent from long range (3 of 15).
The 88 combined points made it the lowest-scoring game in Shootout history, and the 35 points by San Jose State marked the fewest UAA has allowed to a Division I team, replacing the old record of 38, set in UAA's 40-38 win over San Diego in 1984.
"It was an ugly game," Moser said. "I think they were pressing too hard. They rushed things. The players want to win so bad, (but) they need to relax.
"I don't think we're going to shoot like this every game. Everything looks uglier when the ball doesn't go in the hole."
But Mathews playing defense was a thing of beauty.
In a span of 1:42, she swiped the ball on four straight San Jose State possessions to fuel an 8-0 run that put the game away.
"They killed us," Spartans coach Pam DeCosta said of Mathews' steals.
With her team up 33-27 and 8:08 left in the half, Mathews picked off a pass and the Seawolves converted with basket and free throw by Hanna Johansson. Fifteen seconds later, she tipped away a pass for another steal and again the Seawolves converted, this time getting a basket and a free throw from Alysa Horn.
Mathews' next two steals came off the dribble. UAA didn't score on the first of those, but Horn sank a jumper from the lane after the second to make it 41-27 with 6:26 to play.
"I was just going after them," Mathews said. "I was just playing."
A transfer from Antelope Valley Community College, Mathews said she first heard about UAA from Francesca De Angelis, her teammate this season, but a rival last season when both played for California junior colleges.
"'She said, 'I want to go to Alaska,' and I looked at her and laughed," Matthews said.
Yet both Mathews and her best friend -- redshirt guard Siedah Wilson, who went to high school with Mathews in Palmdale, Calif., and joined her at Antelope Valley -- wound up in Anchorage, where they're among 12 new players.
Newcomers accounted for 18 of UAA's 48 points, with Mathews leading the way with eight.
Junior forward Hanna Johansson, one of the top returners from last season's 24-5 team, scored 10 points -- all in the second half -- and Horn, a sophomore forward, also had 10.
Those two combined for 11 of UAA's 37 rebounds and Kaitlin McBride added five to go along with three steals. Three others had one steal apiece for the Seawolves, who finished with 11.
Before Mathews broke open the game, the biggest performance had come from the smallest player on the court -- San Jose State's A.J. Newton, a 5-foot-2 freshman guard.
She buried three of six 3-point attempts in the first half, which ended with UAA leading by just five, 22-17. She finished with 12 and, along with post Dominique Hamilton, who finished with nine points, was San Jose State's most consistent offensive option.
"She's going to be good for us," DeCosta said.
DeCosta needs players to step up, because the Spartans (0-5) are hurting. Not only are they coming off a 6-23 season, they have lost five players to injury already this season. All will require surgery, DeCosta said.
Reporter Beth Bragg can be reached at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call her at 257-4335.
SAN JOSE STATE (35) -- Johnson 2-8 0-0 4, Broaden 2-5 0-0 4, Bradley 2-15 0-0 4, Newton 4-11 1-2 13, Coble 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Plavljanin 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Solia 1-2 0-0 2, Hamilton 3-3 3-4 9. Totals 14-46 4-6 35
UAA (48) -- Horn 4-8 1-1 10, Aden 2-10 2-2 6, Johansson 4-7 2-5 10, Denson-Griffin 1-7 0-0 3, McBride 1-5 2-2 4, Mathews 2-5 2-2 8, Robison 2-7 0-1 4, Herrin 0-5 0-0 0, De Angelis 0-2 0-0 0, Burns 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 17-61 9-13 48
3-pointers -- San Jose State 3-15 (Johnson 0-3, Bradley 0-2, Newton 3-9, Solia 0-1), UAA 5-24 (Horn 1-3, Aden 0-3, Denson-Griffin 1-2, Mathews 2-3, Herrin 0-4, De Angelis 0-2, Burns 1-5). Rebounds -- SJS 35 (Bradley 8), UAA 37 (Horn 6). Total fouls -- SJS 16, UAA 11. Fouled out -- Johnson. Assists -- SJS 11 (Johnson 3, Newton 3), UAA 10 (three with 2). Turnovers -- SJS 20 (Coble 5), UAA 10 (Johansson 4). Blocked shots -- SJS 2, UAA 2. Steals -- SJS 3, UAA 11 (Mathews 5). Officials -- Tiffany Bird, Gabby Lujan, Bill McNew.
San Jose State 17 18 -- 35
UAA 22 26 -- 48
By BETH BRAGG
bbragg@adn.com