ANCHORAGE - Guard Amber Murray scored 14 points, including the game-deciding basket with 30 seconds left Saturday, as Western State came back to stun the 5th-ranked Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team, 36-35, snapping the Seawolves' 29-game home winning streak in the process.
The Seawolves (8-1) were led by 14 points from forward Nicci Miller, but the senior missed a layup at the buzzer that would have given UAA the victory.
Instead, the Mountaineers (4-6) survived by holding UAA to a school-record-low 12 points in the second half. Forward Katie Hall had 13 rebounds, four blocks and four steals for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Association club, while Murray and Brooke Pendergraft grabbed nine rebounds apiece.
The game began as a typical blowout with UAA grabbing a 13-2 lead and holding the Mountaineers without a field goal for nearly nine minutes. But the visitors from Gunnison, Colo., used their defense to stay within 23-16 at halftime and kept up the pressure in the final 20 minutes.
The Seawolves got two quick buckets to open the second half, with Miller's layup giving them a 27-16 at the 18:04 mark. UAA would go ice cold from that point, however, missing 26 of their final 29 shots from the field. UAA finished 16 of 69 overall (23 percent), 1 of 18 from three-point range, and just 2 of 7 at the free-throw line.
UAA led 33-30 with 4:24 remaining when Miller converted two free throws, but that would be its final points until a Kiki Taylor layup with 10 seconds left.
Following Taylor's basket, the Seawolves fouled Murray, who missed both free throws with seven seconds showing. Nikki Aden grabbed the rebound and fed to Taylor, who found Miller under the basket in transition, but the final shot rolled off the rim.
UAA had won 25 straight at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, plus four at Sullivan Arena, to match the WFSC and overall home winning-streak marks set from Feb. 2006-Jan. 2008. The Seawolves are now 57-2 at home over the last four seasons, with the other loss also occurring by one point, 78-77, to Seattle Pacific on Jan. 19, 2008.
The Seawolves will get a chance for revenge Sunday when they host the Mountaineers against at 5 p.m. AST.
