Sports

The Nanook hockey team ended its season with two losses at the CCHA championships, finishing in fourth place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

On Friday night, the Nanooks lost 3-1 to the Michigan Wolverines in the semifinals. Saturday, Northern Michigan handed the Nanooks a 2-0 shutout in the consolation game.

Friday, the Nanooks lost Bryant Molle late in the first period when the sophomore defenseman was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for checking Michigan right wing Aaron Palushaj from behind into the right corner in the Alaska zone. The Wolverines took advantage of the five-minute power play, and at 17:17, left wing Tim Miller passed the puck through Nanook defenseman Dustin Molle’s legs to Chad Langlais, who hit it off Nanook goaltender Chad Johnson’s glove with a high wrist shot.

Early in the second period, Nanook senior Braden Walls, who sat out last Saturday and Sunday’s quarterfinal games against Ohio State with an injury, tied the game up on a Nanook power play when he redirected a shot from freshman defender Joe Sova. Michigan’s Louie Caporusso scored later in the second period, and late in the third period, the Nanooks pulled goaltender Chad Johnson even while on the penalty kill and Palushaj sealed Michigan’s victory with an empty-net goal. Caporusso had assists on both Wolverine goals that he did not score.

Having lost against the Wolverines, the Nanooks hoped to finish out their season with a win against the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Saturday, which would give them third place in the conference tournament. However, the Wildcats capitalized, shutting out the Nanooks.

Thirteenth place for Freshman Theresia Schnurr from the 5 km classic race topped the Nanooks results from this year’s NCAA Skiing Championships. A strong classical skier, Schnurr showed her strength on the national level with a time of 14 minutes and 50 seconds. She was just 17 seconds short of making it to top 10 and 40 seconds short of making it to the podium.

Julia Pierson finished strong at 21st position, 22 seconds off Schnurr, and Anna Coulter finished 38th. The event was won by Denver University’s Antje Maempel with a time of 13 minutes and 52.4 seconds.

The only male skier to represent UAF at the NCAA skiing championship, Oeyvind Watterdal, finished strong in 26th at the Men’s 10 km classic race. Watterdal, with a time of 25 minutes and 43.9 seconds, was roughly 13 seconds short of making it to the top 20 at his first NCAA Championships. The Men’s 10 km event was won by Juergen Uhl from the University of Vermont with a time of 24 minutes and 14.9 seconds.

The free technique mass star races were less successful for the Nanooks. On the Women’s side, Regional Champion Julia Pierson was the first from UAF skiers, finishing 18th, with Anna Coulter and Theresia Schnurr 10 seconds behind her, 21st and 22nd respectively. The event was won again by Denver University’s Antje Maempel.

On the men’s side, Oeyvind Watterdal finished 39th at the Men’s 20 km Free Technique mass start race, which was won by University of Colorado’s Vegard Kjoelhamar in a dominant race. He finished 20 seconds ahead of second place. Last year’s winner of the free technique event, Glenn Randall of Dartmouth, finished 18th.

Saturday, March 7, the Nanooks bid farewell to seniors Mladen Begojevic and Colin Matteson before their final game of the season, a 96-65 loss to Saint Martin’s. The game ended a rocky season in which the Nanooks were 6-19 overall and just 3-13 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference Play.

Begojevic, who averaged 11.4 points per game last season and led the team in shooting percentage, sat out most of this season with recurring knee injuries that he knew at the beginning of the season would likely limit his playing time. Begojevic played in just the opening minute of Saturday’s game and just 73 minutes all season.

“We were looking (for Mladen) to be a starter this year. If not a starter, at least significant minutes,” said coach Clemon Johnson after Saturday’s game. “When that didn’t happen for us, then of course that threw a monkey wrench into the plans, and then we had to go from there… (but) he helped me out in other ways.”

Johnson explained that Begojevic, an accounting major, helped his teammates with math homework as his contribution to the team. “He’s willing to do what he’s capable of doing, he just wasn’t able to help us on the court this year,” Johnson said.

Matteson led the Nanooks in scoring last season, but this season, second-year head coach Clemon Johnson noted that he recruited heavily on the offensive end.

“Last year Colin was the go-to man. This year he was not the primary choice on the offensive scheme, so his numbers dropped, but he was always there when we needed him, and that’s what is important, that’s what I appreciate about him.”

The Nanook rifle team, the defending national champions, finished fourth at the NCAA championships this past week after an average performance in both air rifle and smallbore. Alaska finished with 4624 points on the weekend, 19 behind champion West Virginia University.

“No one shot poorly this weekend,” said coach Dan Jordan in a press release, “but no one shot really well.”

West Virginia, who earlier this year became the first team to defeat the Nanooks since October 2007, gained their ground for the championship after finishing sixth in Friday’s smallbore competition. Also finishing ahead of the Nanooks were the University of Kentucky with 4638 points and Jacksonville State with 4636.

Sophomore Cody Rutter led the Nanooks in air rifle with a score of 585, just one point ahead of last year’s national champion, Alaska junior Patrik Sartz, but neither made the top eight to contend for the individual championship.

Billy Galligan shot a 580 for the Nanooks and Taylor Beard contributed a 576. Alaska finished fourth in the air rifle competition.

In Friday’s smallbore competition, the Nanooks took third place. Sartz took Alaska’s top spot with a score of 579. He barely missed out on the individual finals, as he was in a three-way tie with Ethan Settlemires of Kentucky and Elizabeth Lyon of Morehead. The tiebreaker, determined by the scores of the final 10 kneeling shots, bumped Sartz out.

Jace Bures took the second spot in the smallbore relay with a 574, followed by a 570 from Billy Galligan and 576 from Cody Rutter.

For the first time in its most recent incarnation, the Nanook swim team sent more than one swimmer to the NCAA national meet. Six women represented Alaska at the Division II national meet at the University of Houston.

The Nanooks brought back four All-American honors, with sophomore Mariya Pavlovskaya finishing seventh in the 400 yard individual medley for All-American status and All-American honorable mention with a 15th-place finish in the 200 individual medley. Senior Mar Brunet got honorable mention All-American status with her finishes in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events.

In her second year with the Nanooks, Pavlovskaya has proved a force. She broke her own school record at the meet with her 400 IM time. Swim coach Scott Lemley said that Pavlovskaya, from Russia, has gotten into a groove with Nanook swimming that has helped her flourish, even at the national level.

“When I recruited her, she was 16. She was very young, had never been out of Russia before,” he said. Last season, Pavlovskaya was homesick for much of the year. “This year she was much more comfortable. She’s got the same amount of talent… I think she just was in her comfort zone, and her training was spectacular.”

The Nanooks felt the pressure of the large-scale meet in the first few days, and it threw their swimming off, though many still set lifetime bests. “It was unbelievably fast,” Lemley said of the competition. “I think almost every national record in every event was broken multiple times. I think it was pretty overwhelming.”

“[Swimming is] so nuanced that you can get thrown off. Your timing gets thrown off, your rhythm gets thrown off, you start to lack just a little bit of confidence, and that makes a lot of difference,” he said, but the Nanooks started to find a rhythm and swim more relaxed as the days passed.

“I guess we’re going to the Joe,” said coach Dallas Ferguson to a packed pressroom after Sunday night’s game.

With a last-minute goal from freshman Ron Meyers in game three of the CCHA quarterfinal series, the Nanooks’ hockey team secured a trip to the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Mich. for the CCHA tournament.

This weekend, the Nanooks hosted the Ohio State University Buckeyes for a best-of-three series in the quarterfinal round of the CCHA playoffs. Last weekend, the Buckeyes defeated Bowling Green State University to earn this trip to Fairbanks while the Nanooks had a first round bye. This weekend was the third time the Nanooks have hosted CCHA playoffs. The Nanooks hosted Ferris State in 2002 and Northern Michigan in 2004.

In Sunday night’s do-or-die game, the Nanooks defeated the Buckeyes 1-0 on a shot from Ron Meyers at 19:10 of the third period. The Buckeyes called a timeout right after the goal and pulled their goalie in an attempt to score a tying goal, but it wasn’t enough. The Nanooks depart this week for Detroit, Mich. where they will face off against the University of Michigan in the Joe Louis Arena in the semi-final game of the CCHA playoffs.

Friday night, the Nanooks took the ice energized and prepared. Although they lost senior Braden Walls to a leg injury in the first period, their offense attacked the Buckeyes, and finished that period with a 2-0 lead. Adam Naglich scored the first goal of the night at 7:57, while freshman Justin Filzen scored at the 12-minute mark.

The Nanooks may have earned fourth place in the CCHA and a first-round bye during CCHA playoffs, but this weekend’s series against the University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves was a bitter end to the 2008-2009 regular season. The Seawolves shut out the Alaska Nanooks 1-0 and 3-0 in a two-game home-and-home series for the Alaska Governor’s Cup.

Basketball teams lose on road

The men’s and women’s basketball teams both found defeat this weekend on the road. The women allowed Western Washington to get a 20-0 lead before scoring on Thursday in Bellingham. The Vikings eventually beat the Nanooks 77-32.

Senior Sheena Brown had 16 points for the Nanooks, in front of a reportedly rough crowd. Ronisha Edwards had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Alaska. The Nanooks shot just 18.8 percent from the field, and just over 11 percent from beyond the arc. The Vikings 49 and 48 percent statistics in those fields put Alaska under.

Saturday Alaska took on Central Washington University with a much closer outcome. Sheena Brown scored 32 points for the Nanooks, but it wasn’t enough, as the Wildcats took the victory 63-58. Edwards had 12 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.

The women finish up their season at the Patty Center on Thursday with a game against Montana State-Billings at 7:30 p.m.

The men suffered an 89-68 loss to Northwest Nazarene on Thursday. Without the help of Nanook scoring leader Jon Moe, who sat the game out, Alaska allowed the Crusaders a number of large runs. Emmanuel Jenkins led the Nanooks with 16 points, followed by Aaron Jones with 15.

Saturday, the men faced Central Washington as well, and despite a season-high 24 points from senior Colin Matteson, the Wildcats downed the Nanooks 85-71. Jenkins put in 19 points for the Nanooks. Matteson’s points moved him into 25th place on the all-time scoring list for the Nanooks.

Both teams finish up their seasons this weekend at the Patty Center. The women take on Montana State-Billings on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and the men take on Western Oregon at 5:15 p.m. Thursday and St. Martin’s at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Hockey seniors up for awards

The Nanook skiers are sending a full slate of women to the NCAA championships, and one man, marking the first time in four years that Alaska has not sent a full six-member team to the national championships. The Central Collegiate Ski Association’s championship meet in Houghton, Mich. was host to the final races in which skiers could earn points towards qualifying.

Nanook skier Julia Pierson won the region’s 10-kilometer mass-start classic championship on Sunday with a time of 33:17. Just 10.3 seconds behind Pierson was her twin sister, Nanook Anna Coulter, who out-sprinted Northern Michigan University’s Laura DeWitt to take second place by a mere one-second margin.

“I certainly knew that she (Pierson) and her sister (Coulter) both had the capability of doing it,” said coach Scott Jerome. “They’re both very talented in skating especially, so it was a good way to end the weekend.”

Alaska freshman Theresia Schnurr took seventh in the freestyle race.

Schnurr, Coulter and Pierson qualified amongst the top 11 female skiers of the region to race at the 2009 NCAA Ski Championships. The top skiers are calculated based on points earned in designated races throughout the season, but each team is allowed to send just three men or three women.

On the men’s side, Oyvind Watterdal had already qualified with his earlier races, and Alaska skiers could have potentially filled two other spots. None of the remaining Nanooks qualified. Watterdal was the top Nanook finisher in the men’s 10-kilometer classic race, at 10th, followed closely by Erik Soderstrom in 11th place.

In Saturday’s classic race, Schnurr led Alaska’s women in sixth place, followed by Pierson in 12th and Coulter in 19th.

The Nanook hockey team held onto their chance for a first-round bye in the playoffs with two come-from-behind wins over the Ferris State Bulldogs.

Friday, two third-period goals lifted the Nanooks to a 2-1 victory, while Saturday’s contest went into overtime, with Alaska captain Adam Naglich sealing victory for the Nanooks just over a minute into the extra session.

On Friday, Ferris State jumped to a one-goal lead just under five minutes into the contest, when Justin Menke’s goal was reviewed by the referees and allowed to stand after it appeared that a Bulldog player was in the goaltender’s crease.

Despite five power play opportunities, the Nanooks still couldn’t score throughout the second period. However, when Alaska was down a man—Trevor Hyatt was serving a two-minute hooking penalty—defenseman Dustin Molle fired a shot towards Ferris State goaltender Pat Nagle and sophomore forward Kevin Petovello redirected the shot over Nagle’s shoulder to tie the game up.

Just under three minutes later, freshman Ron Meyers jumped on a rebound of a shot by Ryan Hohl, and put it past Nagle for the game-winner.

Saturday the Nanooks found themselves trailing again, this time by two. Brendan Connolly scored just 26 seconds into the second period, and Mike Embach just under five minutes in.

Near the halfway point of the period, Alaska junior Dion Knelsen put in a puck off of a pass from his brother Brandon. Petovello again put in the game-tying goal 13 minutes into the third period.

Men’s Basketball

The men’s basketball team struggled to hold Western Washington on Thursday, finishing 96-80, and trailed by 30 against Seattle Pacific on Saturday, 96-66.

UAF found themselves up by three at the end of the first half on Thursday. However, the Vikings out-shot the Nanooks by 19.5 percentage points in the field in the second half, and found 26 boards compared to Alaska’s nine.

Jon Moe was the top scorer for the night, sinking 23 points while Emmanuel Jenkins chipped in 21. Maynard also achieved double figures in points with 10 to end the game.

UAF came out flat and had a difficult time finding the hoop against SPU on Saturday. They shot 25.8 percent in the field and 11.1 percent in the arc, compared to the Falcons’ 54.8 and 40 for the first half. The Nanooks ended the first half down by 23.

Despite improvements, Alaska found itself in a hole and lost 96-66. Moe was the top shooter again, with 20 points. Jenkins and Colin Matteson added 12, and Aaron Jones found 10 points, while Maynard saw 12 rebounds.

The Nanooks are now 6-15 overall and take on Northwest Nazarene on the road next Thursday.

Women’s Basketball

The women’s basketball team found six additional players to compete during the games on the road last weekend. Alaska lost both games, 97-53 against Northwest Nazarene and 97-47 against Seattle Pacific.

Sheena Brown, Ronisha Edwards and Caitlin Hamsley, the only players from the team’s original roster, played the full 40 minutes in both games. Brown had 20 points on Thursday while Edwards added 17, and Hamsley chipped in 11 points.

Basketball

The lady Nanooks lost their sixth player on the road last Wednesday. Nicole Bozek experienced a knee injury within the first four minutes of the game against UAA. Bozek was the team leader in rebounds and points for the season. With zero subs, the Nanooks still had to battle the first-ranked team in the nation. Shorthanded, they found themselves trailing by 13 at the half.

The Seawolves continued to use their subs as an advantage, taking control of the second period. They sent the Nanooks home yet to find a conference win, with a final score 71-43.

UAF’s Ronisha Edwards, Megan Thigpen, and Grace Milliken played the full 40 minutes, while Caitlin Hamsley played 39 and Sheena Brown added 37. UAA’s Rebecca Kielpinski led her team in minutes with 26 for the night.

The Nanooks had 23 turnovers compared to the Seawolves’ 13, and shot 32.6 percent in the field. Caitlin Hamsley had a game high of 17 points, shooting 5-11 behind the arc, while Sheena Brown added 11 points for the night. Of the two teams, UAF’s Ronisha Edwards and Grace Milliken were the only players to achieve double figures in rebounds with 11 and 10.

The Nanooks plan to continue with five players this week. They take on Central Washington on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Western Washington Saturday at 5:15 p.m. in the Patty Center.

Rifle

The Nanook rifle team plans to redeem themselves from their first loss of the season last month in West Virginia. This weekend, they host Citadel for a NCAA qualifier. The shooters begin Saturday at 9 a.m.

The men’s basketball team got a taste of playing for their home crowd last Thursday and Saturday after two back-to-back weeks on the road, finding two losses from Seattle Pacific University and Western Washington.

The Alaska Nanooks had an impressive start against Seattle Pacific on Thursday. Nashorn Maynard scored twice in a row, notching the first four points of the game. Afterwards, some key plays by Colin Matteson, Emmanuel Jenkins, and Jon Moe gave UAF a considerable advantage. On two separate occasions, they found themselves ahead by 16 during first half. Despite the Nanooks’ impressive start, SPU began to find a shooting rhythm while improving their defense, making it difficult for the Nanooks to score. SPU ended the half behind by three.

The Falcons, ranked third in the conference, continued with their momentum and found themselves ahead within the first minute of the second half. They continued to run with their comeback, and Alaska didn’t find the lead for the remainder of the game. The Blue and Gold shot 20 percent behind the arc, in comparison to SPU’s 60 percent during the second. The Falcons left the Patty with an additional notch in their win column, 96-87.

Moe and Jenkins continue to be Alaska’s top scorers, both adding 24 for the night. Colin Matteson had 12 points with eight rebounds.

The Nanooks hosted Western Washington Saturday. The Vikings are ranked first in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and are category leaders in offensive scoring, rebounds and steals per game.

The Besh Cup ski race took place in Fairbanks last weekend. These races are among the most competitive in Alaska. Birch Hill hosted the fifth race that consisted of classic and freestyle skiing. The race lengths ranged from one to ten kilometers. Top performers in the six Besh Cup races can qualify for the Junior Nationals in Truckee, California.

The race was originally scheduled to take place in Salcha, but a community function moved it to Fairbanks. Sunday, there was a chance of a cancellation because the weather was expected to hit the cutoff temperature of negative four. However, both races took place as scheduled.

Saturday was the classic stagger-start race. The “classic” technique is when the athletes are required to keep their skis parallel at all times, using their legs and poles to create momentum. A stagger start is when the skiers begin in increments, and are individually timed and placed. Sunday tends to be more chaotic during the freestyle mass-start race. The “freestyle” technique is when the racers are allowed to angle their skis for movement. The mass-start is when all the racers begin at one time.

Former Nanook skier, and 2008’s classic national champion, Marius Korthauer finished just ahead of Nanook freshman Erik Soderstrom, who ended with a time of 30:15.20 during Saturday’s 10K race.

Head Coach Scott Jerome said the weekend was good practice for a majority of the skiers. “It was good to see him [Soderstrom] have a solid race.”

The Nanook hockey team came out sharp on Friday, earning a win, while on Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes came out on top of their game, fighting back for a split on the weekend.

In Friday’s game, the Nanooks scored twice in the first period, leading into a 4-1 win over the No. 14 Buckeyes. Saturday was a different story, as the Buckeyes scored five unanswered goals in the first period on their way to a 6-2 victory.

Friday night, freshman Adam Cardwell scored his first collegiate goal about five minutes into the game. Junior Dion Knelsen fired a shot towards the goal and after the puck bounced off of both OSU and Alaska players, Cardwell put it past Ohio’s Dustin Carlson. Later in the period sophomore Kevin Petovello would redirect another rebound past Carlson.

Neither team could score in the second period, but in the third, junior Ryan Hohl scored just 13 minutes into the period. The Buckeyes responded just 45 seconds later with a goal from Kyle Reed. Freshman Ron Meyers added an insurance goal with three minutes remaining in the game.

In Saturday’s game, Ohio came out, guns blazing. The Buckeyes put three goals past senior Chad Johnson in the first five minutes of the game.

“Ohio State came out; they jacked up the intensity,” said Nanook coach Dallas Ferguson after the game. “We started watching there the first four minutes and all of a sudden, bang-bang-bang, you’re down.”

This week the Nanook swim team hosted the University of Shippensburg for two dual swim meets on Friday and Saturday. It was the team’s first meet since winter break. Over break, the Alaska swimmers went on a three-week intense training trip in the Lower 48. They started in Arizona with altitude training. “It was difficult,” said Jacqueline van Driessche. Some of the girls had trouble breathing. The team also became sick, partly from all the traveling and lack of rest. “Despite being sick, we did really well,” remarked van Driessche. Over the three-week period, the team won three out of three meets, one against Shippensburg, who had the home pool advantage and 25 swimmers and still lost to the Nanooks.

The Nanooks won both Friday’s and Saturday’s meets. Friday the Nanooks came from behind for a 116-89 win. Shippensburg swimmers won the 200 and 50 freestyle and the 100 butterfly, putting Alaska behind. Nanook swimmers won the last three individual events and the 400 freestyle relay to take the lead and the meet. Alaska won eight of 11 events throughout the evening..

On Saturday, the Nanooks won 121-84, with victories in eight races, two from senior Samantha Zinsli in the 1,650 freestyle and 500 freestyle and one from senior Mar Brunet, who set the pool record in the 200 backstroke.

Saturday was the final home meet for the senior swimmers, Zinsli, Brunet, Amanda Hartman and Joann Kump. During one of the 15-minute breaks between races, seniors were recognized and presented with flowers.

Last week, the women’s basketball team took on Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon with just six players for the second week in a row. Each healthy player saw at least 24 minutes of playing time at the Patty Center, and despite their obvious hard work, they failed to grasp their first conference win.

The Nanooks struggled to find the hoop during the last minutes of both games. They lost 75-54 to the Saints, and 62-51 to the Wolves.

Alaska began the Saint Martin’s game on a high note with Nichole Bozek jumping to win the tip-off, and Megan Thigpen finding the hoop for two. However, the Saints proved to be determined by scoring eight unanswered points within the first four minutes. The Nanooks continued to run their tough 3-2 zone defense, and both Sheena Brown and Bozek added a steal.

The Nanooks began to catch up as the half was nearing, with impressive performances by Ronisha Edwards and Thigpen. Seconds before the half, The Nanooks had the crowd cheering when Thigpen banked a shot just seconds before the buzzer. The Nanooks went into intermission in a good position trailing 27-30.

The Saints came out of the locker room with improved shooting success, and the Nanooks couldn’t find an answer. They allowed 21 turnovers and shot 40.7 percent compared to the Saints’ 50 percent. With 6:30 remaining, Edwards found her fifth foul, leaving Alaska with no additional substitutions. The Saints left with a final score 75-54.

Hockey goes 1-3-2

The Nanooks were completely shut out at Notre Dame the weekend of Jan. 9 and 10. The Fighting Irish, the No. 1-ranked team in the country, took the contests 2-0 and 3-0.

On Jan. 16 and 17 the Nanooks hosted the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and Friday, handed the Mavericks a 2-0 shutout, followed by a tie on Saturday that was settled by a shootout win that counts as a win in CCHA standings, but a tie in the NCAA. In Friday’s game senior Braden Walls was the star. he scored in the first period, and again in the second period while the Nanooks were enjoying a two-man advantage on the power play. Chad Johnson recorded his fourth shutout of the season and was named CCHA goaltender for the week.

In Saturday’s game, Ryan Hohl scored on a redirected shot by freshman Aaron Gens. The game ended tied 1-1, as did overtime. In the shootout Hohl was the only shooter from either team to find the back of the net

Northern Michigan University found its way through the Nanooks’ strong defense with a 2-0 win last Friday night.

Saturday the Nanooks fought back to a 2-2 tie before the Wildcats took the shootout victory. Brandon Knelsen and Braden Walls scored for the Nanooks, while freshman goaltender Scott Greenham became the first Nanook goaltender ever to be undefeated in his first four career games.

The Nanooks now sit in sole possession of third place in the CCHA standings. National rankings have the Nanooks seated in slot 19.

Hockey players up for awards

Senior goalie Chad Johnson is one of 50 preliminary Hobey Baker Award candidates. The Hobey Baker Award honors men’s college hockey’s top player. To vote, go to www.hobeybaker.com/voting.

After this week, the women’s basketball team has only six people in condition to play. Newcomer Jasmine Marshall tore ligaments in her knee Jan. 17 playing against UAA, leaving the Nanooks with seven during the Seattle Pacific game last Thursday. Within the first two minutes, senior guard Christina Bruketta fell, ending up with a sprained kneecap. Now with only one sub against SPU’s six, the Nanooks looked like they were in trouble.

The team didn’t see it that way. With vital plays by Nicole Bozek, including swishing two back-to-back threes, and Sheena Brown going hard to the hoop, the Nanooks soon found themselves up by seven points. But SPU wasn’t done, and they began making shots as the clock wound down at the half. Alaska remained determined and held onto the lead 27-25.

The Nanooks continued to battle. After a successful shot by Grace Milliken, the Nanooks looked to have a chance, now trailing by three. However, SPU received a string of foul calls and the Falcons added one more win to their 11-2 record with a final score 55-50.

Bozek had a game-high 18 total points and 16 rebounds. Caitlin Hamsley added six assists, and Ronisha Edwards caught seven rebounds. Despite the hard loss, they had to take on Northwest Nazarene the following Saturday.

Alaska has a reputation for their strong defense, while NNU has a solid offense and is ranked first in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with steals per game. Shorthanded, Head Coach Darryl Smith wanted to do everything possible to slow the game down.

The Nanooks came out ready to play, and hung in with the Crusaders. Megan Thigpen found the hole, racking up the first four points for UAF. With their penetrating defense and crucial steals, the Nanooks began to catch up. It looked like UAF would end the half down by two until Edwards passed the ball over her shoulder to Bozek, who made it into the hoop tying the game up at 33 at the half.