Courtesy:: Michael Dinneen / UAA Athletics Seawolves secure 4th straigh shootout title with 49-48 victory over Cincinnati.
ANCHORAGE – Nicci Miller scored a game-high 15 points and fellow senior Kiki Taylor sank the game-winning free throw with 1:17 remaining Wednesday to lift the Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team to its fourth straight Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout title with a 49-48 upset of Cincinnati at Sullivan Arena.
The Seawolves (4-0), the 8th-ranked team in NCAA Div. II, also got 10 points from senior guard Tamar Gruwell as they posted a one-point win over a Big East Conference team for the second straight year. UAA defeated Syracuse 58-57 to win the 2008 crown.
Cincinnati (3-2) was led by 14 points from junior guard Carla Jacobs, but the Bearcats managed to shoot just 18 percent (4 of 22) in the second half and committed 19 turnovers to UAA’s 13.
The Seawolves fell behind twice by 11 points late in the first half, but Gruwell pulled the hosts within 26-22 with a three-pointer, and UAA went into halftime with a 31-24 deficit.
UAA took its first lead of the night, 37-36, on a three-pointer from junior forward Kelsie Gourdin (8 pts, 2-3 3FG, 3 rebounds) with 11 minutes to play, and neither team would lead by more than three points the rest of the way.
The score was knotted at 46-46 with three minutes remaining when UC’s Kahla Roudebush and UAA’s Gruwell traded a pair of free throws apiece. Roudebush missed a jumper on the next possession, setting up a huge possession for the Seawolves.
Junior guard Nikki Aden fired a wide-open three-point shot that bounced high off the rim, and sophomore forward Hanna Johansson snuck in for a weak-side rebound and converted her only basket of the night. The 6-2 Swede had missed her previous seven attempts.
Bearcats guard Shareese Ulis then rattled a jump shot around the rim before falling in for a 48-48 tie at the 1:44 mark.
On UAA’s next possession, Taylor began her dribble late in the shot clock and drew enough contact for a foul at the rim. The senior from Colorado Springs, Colo., missed her first free throw before swishing her second for the final point of the game.
Taylor grabbed a rebound of a Ulis miss with 49 seconds to go, but UAA could not get off a shot when Jacobs stole the ball from Taylor and quickly called timeout. The Bearcats set up a shot for Roudebush (11 pts, 2-11 FG, 1-6 3FG, 6-8 FT, 7 rebounds, 3 assists), but the senior guard’s attempt clanged off the rim and into the hands of Taylor, who was fouled with 1 second showing.
Taylor’s missed the front end of her one-and-one opportunity, but it didn’t matter as the Bearcats were unable to get off a final shot.
Miller earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, while teammates Gruwell and Taylor joined her on the All-Tournament Team. Roudebush and Jacobs both earn all-tourney honors for the Bearcats, while Coastal Carolina’s Sydnei Moss completed the squad.
With the win, the Seawolves have now won six Shootout titles (1990, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009) and scored their eight straight regular-season victory over a Division I club.
UAA’s home winning streak now stretches to 25 games overall, including four at Sullivan, while fourth-year head coach Tim Moser improved to 48-4 in regular-season, non-conference games.
Wednesday’s victory also marks UAA’s fifth all-time against schools from ‘major’ conferences as Cincinnati joined Syracuse, Clemson (2003), Georgia Tech (1994) and Wake Forest (1990).
The Seawolves return to Div. II competition Dec. 3 when they face Nyack (N.Y.) in a neutral-court game in Fairbanks.
2009 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout Women’s All Tournament Team Carla Jacobs, Cincinnati Tamar Gruwell, Alaska Anchorage Sydnei Moss, Coastal Carolina Kahla Roudebush, Cincinnati Kiki Taylor, Alaska Anchorage Most Outstanding Player: Nicci Miller, Alaska Anchorage
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Courtesy:: Michael Dinneen / UAA Athletics
