by ANCHORAGE (Nov. 28) – Senior guard Elaina Mack scored 30 points and freshman guard Mylee Anderson added 17 points and five assists Friday to propel No. 17 Alaska Anchorage to a 93-80 women’s basketball victory over UC Merced at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (6-0) also got 15 points, five rebounds and no turnovers from sophomore wing Mahaila Harrison as they shot a season-best .488 (39 of 80) from the floor and committed just nine turnovers.
The Bobcats (3-2) were led by 16 points and seven rebounds from starting forward Paloma Ramirez in the teams’ first-ever meeting.
“Our scorers put up nice numbers tonight, but it was really the great contributions from our bench – Brooke Leo, Alba Sanz and Jennifer Nash in particular – that helped us earn this victory,” said UAA head coach Matt Thune. “With a couple of our starters in foul trouble, that group really stepped up and did a wonderful job of playing within themselves and making some clutch plays.”
Tied 2-2 in the early going, Harrison got the Seawolves kick-started with seven straight points to fuel a 19-3 lead. The visitors from the California Collegiate Athletic Association shaved their deficit down to 25-18 early in the second quarter, but Anderson scored a pair of baskets as UAA regained a 44-35 advantage at the half.
Anderson and Mack started the second half with consecutive baskets, and UAA pushed the lead to 72-51 late in the third quarter when Kimberly Carrada Sanchez converted her own miss. Carrada Sanchez added three-pointers on their side of the quarter break as UAA stretched its largest advantage to 78-53, allowing sufficient cushion to survive a late surge by the visitors.
Mack shot 12 of 21 from the floor, including 6 of 13 on threes, as the King Cove native scored her most points against a fellow NCAA Div. II opponent and surpassed the 800-point plateau (820) for her career.
Anderson shot 8 of 11 on two-point shots, along with six rebounds, while Carrada Sanchez and junior guard Faith Mersburgh scored 11 points apiece. Carrada Sanchez dished a game-high seven assists, and junior center Lillee Duffin had nine rebounds.
Nash had five points on 2-of-2 shooting and Leo – a freshman from England – collected the first two assists of her career, while committing no turnovers in 13 minutes.
