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Women's Basketball

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Dasha Basova of Anchorage Alaska women's basketball.
Dasha Basova of Anchorage Alaska Women's Basketball.

Former standout doing well.

December 3, 2008

Courtesy of UAA Sports Information

ANCHORAGE – Senior Dasha Basova scored a career-high 25 points Thursday to help the 5th-ranked Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team hang on for a nail-biting 55-54 victory over Colorado Christian at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Seawolves (4-1) also got 13 points from senior center Rebecca Kielpinski as they avoided the upset.

The Cougars (1-2) got 19 points and six rebounds from guard Talmai Aguirre and 14 points and 10 rebounds from forward Abby Rosenthal, but the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference squad missed multiple opportunities to take the lead in the final two minutes.

UAA – now 34-1 at home over the last three seasons – could not find its offensive rhythm with the exception of Basova, who easily eclipsed her previous career-high of 17 points. The 6-3 forward from Russia nailed 7 of 13 from three-point range to come one shy of tying the school record for treys in a game.

Basova’s final three came with 3:17 remaining and made it 54-49, UAA’s largest lead since going up 13-6 in the early going. The Cougars tied it quickly, however, with a pair of free throws from Rosenthal and a trey from Aguirre at the 2:24 mark.

After both teams committed turnovers, CCU’s Kelsie Hert would foul Seawolf point guard Kiki Taylor on a rebound put-back attempt. Taylor made the second of two shots for a 55-54 lead on what would be the final point of the night.

After three straight CCU turnovers, Aguirre missed a jumper and Kielpinski was fouled on the rebound. But the Seawolves were still in a one-and-one situation and UAA’s All-American missed the front end, giving the Cougars a final chance.

On the other end, Rosenthal was fouled by Kielpinski, however the reigning RMAC Player of the Week missed both charities. CCU’s Ainsley Barratt snuck in for the offensive rebound after several players got their hands on the ball and missed a short jumper. Another offensive board by Aguirre set up a three-point shot by Jodie Krall (7 pts, 6 reb, 1-2 3FG) that clunked off the rim, and Aguirre grabbed the final board with 3 seconds left. Moving to her left to attempt a game-winning jumper near the free-throw line, Barratt was called for traveling with 0.2 seconds showing on the clock.

The Seawolves played the game without their second-leading scorer and rebounder, junior forward Nicci Miller (11.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg), who was out with a strained hamstring.

That led to a hefty rebounding margin for the outsized Cougars, whose 46-29 advantage was the biggest advantage against a Seawolf team in head coach Tim Moser’s three seasons.

Senior guard Elisha Harris had four points and a team-high six rebounds for UAA, while Kielpinski had four assists and four blocks. Senior guard Jackie Thiel led the Seawolves with five assists and no turnovers.

With her first basket, Kielpinski became the 4th-leading career scorer in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history, now with 1,451 points.

The Seawolves and Cougars will meet Friday for a rematch at 7 p.m. at the WFSC.