ANAHEIM, Calif. - Despite career highs from
Daisy Feder and
Emily Osga, the 11th-ranked UC San Diego women's basketball team suffered a 74-62 defeat at the hands of No. 13 Alaska Anchorage on the opening day of the Disney West Coast Tip Off Classic on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center.
UAA (1-0) shot 44% for the game and held a commanding 51-26 rebounding advantage to hand UCSD (0-1) its first defeat in a season opener since falling to Minnesota-Crookston to begin the 2004-05 campaign.
"When you get outrebounded as badly as we did, we're lucky to have kept it that close," fourth-year head coach Charity Elliott said. "We've got a lot of work to do and it doesn't get any easier tomorrow against a big, strong Texas Woman's team."
The Tritons, who will play a total of three games in three days during this weekend's four-team event, will face the Pioneers of Texas Woman's University on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Nikki Aden scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Seawolves, while Hanna Johansson recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Kaylie Robison tallied a double-double as well, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Feder and Osga were absolutely brilliant for UCSD, but they got little help against a balanced UAA attack. The backcourt duo scored a combined 41 points, while the rest of the team finished with 21.
With both players making their first-career starts, Feder finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, while Osga finished with 20 points, converting 5-of-14 attempts from the field. Feder was 6-of-10 from the three-point arc and Osga converted 8-of-9 at the free throw line.
Feder eclipsed her previous high of 19 points, while Osga shattered her previous best of nine, both of which came last season.
The Tritons trailed early in the opening period but came back to take a 21-17 lead with six and a half minutes left following a pair of free throws from Erin Grady and an Erin Dautremont layup.
The Seawolves then closed the half on a 14-4 run, taking a 31-25 advantage into the locker room at the break. Robison scored two straight baskets during the stretch, while Aden hit a big three.
Alaska Anchorage outrebounded UCSD 30-10 in the period and held a 20-8 advantage in points in the paint.
Feder hit back-to-back threes to open the second stanza as the Tritons tied the score at 31, but it was all Seawolves after that, with UAA outscoring UCSD 21-6 over the next nine minutes to take it biggest lead of the evening at 52-37.
The Tritons would trim the deficit all the way down to four on two occasions, but the Seawolves answered with jumpers from Alysa Horn and Johansson to push the lead back to eight with 2:40 remaining. UAA then sank nine free throws in the final 1:35 to sew up the victory.
Grady finished with eight points and team-high seven rebounds for UCSD. UAA did an excellent job of containing Chelsea Carlisle, limiting the All-American point guard to just six points on 3-for-10 shooting.
