In a see-saw battle, Alaska Fairbanks scored eight straight points late in the second half to take the lead for good on its way to a 65-63 victory over in the season finale for both women’s basketball teams Saturday evening at the .
After Alaska Fairbanks (12-14, 5-13 GNAC) scored the first four points of the second half, Seattle University went on an 11-2 run to take a 42-37 lead with 13:25 remaining in the half. Alaska Fairbanks fought back and eventually went ahead 49-48 on a layup by Joscelyn Shumate with six minutes left.
After Chelsie Morrison () hit a three-pointer, Nicole Bozek converted a traditional three-point play to tie the game 52-52. Kari Reabold hit two free throws to give the Nanooks the lead, and after a turnover, Sheena Brown hit a three-pointer to extend the visitors’ lead to five at 57-52 with 2:39 remaining. had its chances to tie the game in the final 39 seconds, but Alaska Fairbanks made enough free throws and defended the Redhawks well enough to hold on for the win.
Morrison led all players with 20 points and four steals, hitting four shots from behind the three-point line. In her final collegiate game, Laina Sobczak ( Place, ) notched a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and Kamrica Ary-Turner (), also playing in the final game of her career, finished with nine points.
Bozek led the Nanooks with 15 points in 19 minutes of action off the bench, with Cristina Bruketta contributing 13 points and seven rebounds. Brown scored 12 points, Reabold added ten points, seven rebounds, and four assists, and Sarah Herrin pulled down a team-high nine rebounds to go along with six points.
shot only 28.3 percent from the field, but did hit 23-of-29 shots from the charity stripe. Alaska Fairbanks hit 40.4 percent of its field goal attempts and finished 23-of-33 from the free throw line. Each team earned 39 rebounds during the game.
finishes the season with a 16-11 overall record, the third consecutive winning season for the women’s basketball program. In GNAC play, the Redhawks finished 7-11 in their final season in the conference before beginning the reclassification process towards Division I status.