March 9, 2008

Box Score

By Adam Raeder
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Published Sunday, March 9, 2008

The Alaska Nanooks simply beat Seattle University at their own game.

While the Redhawks annually find themselves atop the Great Northwest Athletic Conference leaderboards in every defensive category, it was Alaska's defense that proved the difference maker at Seattle's Connolly Center Saturday.

The Nanooks held Seattle under 30 percent shooting -- and Joscelyn Shumate held on to the most important loose ball of the game -- as Alaska finished its season with a 65-63 win.

"I thought we came out again playing great defense, kind of getting after it," Alaska coach Lynne Andrew said. "We surprised them."

Playing a lot of man-to-man, and switching on Seattle's screens, the Nanooks held the Redhawks to 28 percent shooting, including a 7-of-30 mark in the first half.

It was a defensive lockdown that helped the Nanooks overcome an early 12-point deficit.

"You have to be smart and play physical. I think we just got better and better at that later in the season," Andrew said. "I think we surprised teams with that intensity on defense and the biggest thing is we were able to sustain it for the entire game."

Alaska needed to sustain it until the final seconds.

After junior forward Cristina Bruketta connected on one of two free throws to give the Nanooks a two-point advantage with 8 seconds left, Seattle guard Chelsea Kungkagam drove the length of the court to attempt a tying layup.

But Alaska was ready for her and the Nanooks were able to contest the shot, forcing Kungkagam to miss her mark.

"I told them, `You know it's only a two-point game, they're going to just put their head down and go. Just contest and keep in front of them,'" Andrew said. "We just did a great job."

After Kungkagam's miss, a mad dash for the loose ball ensued with Shumate falling on it and holding on until the final buzzer to end her college career a winner.

"Joscelyn just grabbed it and held on to it as hard as she could," Andrew said.

Shumate finished with seven points and two blocks, while fellow senior Kari Reabold scored 10 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists.

Freshman Nicole Bozek led the way for Alaska (5-13 GNAC, 12-14 overall) with a team-high 15 points before fouling out.

"She's a very mobile type post player who we're moving out to the four position," Andrew said of the Mukilteo, Wash., native. "She needs to get a little stronger, but she made the transition from high school to college. She's just so athletic. She's going to be an awesome player, I can see her continuing to excel the next three years in our program."

Bruketta finished with 13 points for Alaska, while junior guard Sheena Brown tallied 12 on 4-of-11 shooting.

Chelsie Morrison was the only Seattle player to find success against Alaska's defense, scoring 20 points while going 7-of-13 from the field.

"I told them at the beginning that it was going to be a defensive battle," Andrew said. "It was going to be won on defense and rebounding. I told them offense will come, don't get freaked out, and that's what happened. They didn't panic."