ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Senior forward Hannah Stipanovich scored a game-high 22 points and the Western Washington University women’s basketball team reduced a double-digit deficit to two points late in the fourth quarter but No. 9 Alaska Anchorage handed the Vikings a 66-59 loss on Thursday night at the Alaska Airlines Center in Great Northwest Athletic Conference Play.

WWU dropped to 7-12 overall and 3-9 in conference play with its third straight defeat. The Seawolves, ranked No. 9 nationally by the WBCA and No. 8 nationally by D2SIDA, improved to 17-2 overall and 10-1 in the GNAC. UAA rebounded from a loss at Seattle Pacific last Saturday that snapped a 33-game GNAC win streak.

WWU trailed 55-43 early in the fourth quarter before a 10-1 run brought the Vikings with 56-53 at the 5:59 mark. Stipanovich (St. Louis, MO/Metro State) helped fuel the rally with 6 points during the stretch as the WWU defense held the Seawolves without a field goal for the first 4:14 of the final period.

A layup from forward Tennae Voliva extended the UAA lead out to 58-53, ending the field goal drought at the 5:46 mark. Neither team scored for the next 3:14 until a layup from redshirt freshman guard Gracie Castaneda (Arlington, WA) brought WWU within 58-55 with 2:00 to play in the fourth quarter.

Stipanovich later hit 1-of-2 free throws to cut the margin to 58-56 with 1:20 left but UAA answered as guard Tara Thompson drained a 3-pointer with 49.7 seconds remaining, extending the lead to two possessions at 61-56. Castaneda hit a 3-pointer with 12.1 seconds to go as WWU came within 62-59, but UAA guard Yazmeen Goo went 4-of-4 at the free throw following Castaneda’s 3-pointer to secure the win for the Seawolves.

The Vikings had led at the end of the first quarter, using a 5-0 spurt to pull away from an 8-8 tie to take a 13-8 lead with 1:52 left on a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Dani Iwami (Seal Beach, CA/Hawai’i Pacific) with 1:52 to play. WWU led 13-10 after the opening quarter.

The Seawolves used a 9-2 run to begin the second period and opened a 19-15 lead at the 6:55 mark. After a layup from sophomore center Anna Schwecke (Evergreen, CO/Colorado-Colorado Springs) to open the second quarter, the Seawolves responded with 9 unanswered points. UAA maintained its advantage the rest of the quarter to lead 34-26 at halftime.

A 6-0 spurt for the Vikings to open the third quarter brought WWU within 34-32 before the Seawolves answered to lead 41-34 after a 7-2 run and began to extend their lead in the latter half of the quarter, leading by as many as 11 in the period on their way to a 53-43 advantage after three quarters.

The 22 points were a season-high total for Stipanovich, who reached double-figure scoring for the fourth consecutive game and also grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds to come within a rebound of a double-double. She was 8-of-14 from the field and 6-of-8 at the free throw line, scoring 15 of her points after halftime with 8 in the third quarter and 7 in the fourth quarter.

Castaneda also reached double figures with 11 points and had 4 assists, the ninth time she has totaled 4 assists in a game during the season. Sophomore guard Lexie Bland (Ellensburg, WA) and Iwami tied for the game high with 6 assists apiece, a career-high tying total for Bland. Freshman guard Emma Duff (Tumwater, WA/Black Hills) had a career-high 8 rebounds.

WWU finished 23-of-55 (41.8%) from the floor, but was just 3-of-17 (17.6%) from 3-point range. The Vikings were 10-of-16 (62.5%) at the free throw line. The Vikings held a 41-36 rebounding edge, though the Seawolves had an advantage in offensive rebounds (19-15) and won the turnover battle, 23-15.

UAA was 18-of-61 (29.5%) and 3-of-18 (16.7%) from long range. The Seawolves went 27-of-35 (77.1%) at the free throw line, setting season-high totals for free throws made and attempted. The totals were also the most free throws made and attempted by a WWU opponent in a game during 2017-18.

The Seawolves were led by Goo with 13 points, who also added a game-high 7 steals and 4 assists. Forward Shelby Cloninger had 11 points while guard Kian McNair added 10 points and 4 steals.

The Vikings return to action Saturday night at Alaska Fairbanks with tip-off set for 5:15 pm AKT/6:15 pm PT. WWU is back at WECU Court in Carver Gym during early February, hosting Western Oregon (Feb. 1, 7 pm PT) and Concordia (Feb. 23, 7 pm PT) with all games streaming on GNAC.tv.

Game Notes: Hannah Stipanovich had a season-high 22 points…has scored in double figures 15 times during the season and in four straight games…Emma Duff had a career-high 8 rebounds…Lexie Bland tied a career high with 6 assists…Gracie Castenda tied a career high with 4 assists, the ninth time she has recorded 4 assists in a game…UAA was 27-of-35 at the free throw line, the most free throws made and attempted in a game by a WWU opponent this season and season-high totals for Seawolves in both categories.

About WWU Basketball:

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in seven of the last eight seasons and 34 times in the 47-year history of the program. WWU has 20 seasons of 20 or more wins under head coach Carmen Dolfo, who is the winningest coach of any sport at WWU and ranks among Division II active and all-time coaching leaders in wins, win percentage and 20-win seasons. The Vikings have reached the NCAA II Tournament in 16 of 19 seasons at the Division II level with two trips to the Final Four. WWU is a five-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season champion and two-time GNAC Championships tournament champion. The Vikings are coming off a 2016-17 season where the program went 26-6, including an 18-2 record in conference play, and advanced to the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II West Regional. The program has 1,000 all-time wins in the 47-year history of the program, and according to available records is the 15th women’s college basketball team across all divisions and levels to reach the milestone.

— @WWUWBB —