LA JOLLA, Calif. - The top defense and the most decisive offense in the nation finally met their match on Saturday in the NCAA Division II West Regional Second Round, in which Alaska Anchorage's offense overpowered Grand Canyon's defense on its way to a 77-58 rout.
Improving to 29-4, the Seawolves advance to the West Region Championship game and will play the winner of Saturday night's second semifinal between No. 1 UC San Diego and No. 4 Western Washington on Monday at 7 p.m. The Lopes end their season with an overall record of 24-4.
"I think we played a very good basketball team tonight," said UAA head coach Tim Moser. "I think coach May does a tremendous job with his kids. They run a different type of defense. I think our kids did a great job during the second half being the aggressor [and] attacking it, and I thought the difference of the whole thing was we kept them off the glass."
Senior forward Hanna Johansson gave the Seawolves a strong performance, leading them to victory with a game-high 22 points and six rebounds. Sophomore guard/forward Maylinn Smith led the Lopes with 18 points to go along with two rebounds and an assist.
"It's 'do-or-die' time," said Seawolves junior forward Alysa Horn. "We've got to give it everything we have. Every minute, every possession counts."
After going into intermission leading by a field goal, senior forward Jallisa Butler took the Lopes on her shoulders and scored GCU's first six points in the second half, extending their lead to that many, 36-30. But following a free throw by Smith at the 15:00 mark that made the score, 42-37, Grand Canyon had a grand collapse on offense and failed to score a single point for a stretch of more than six minutes.
As for the Seawolves, they made the most of the Lopes' scoring drought. Led by junior forward Alysa Horn's 10 points, UAA put together a crushing 20-0 run, highlighted by Horn's go-ahead layup with 13:36 remaining in regulation.
For the rest of the game, the lead did not dip below double-digits. The closest the Lopes came was 10 points, when senior guard Angelina Dennison drilled a three-pointer to make the score, 63-53, with 4:55 left.
Already leading by 17 in the last minute of play, senior forward Kaylie Robison finished UAA's victory with a layup 20 seconds before the final buzzer.
"I definitely got to give Alaska Anchorage a lot of credit to their team and their staff," said GCU head coach Trent May. "They stayed consistent all the way through. They sustained runs and even when we had a good, comfortable lead. [We] just really thought we were ready to come out and play the second half, and they weathered our storm and really battled back, persevered. They made shots, they made tough shots."
The Seawolves had the lead for most of the half, but the Lopes tied it at 16 when junior point guard Shelia Washington hit a layup following a steal at the 8:43 mark. Smith's three-pointer made it 22-20 with 7:00 left in the half.
Over the next three-and-a-half minutes of the opening stanza, the teams were tied three times and the lead switched hands four times. The last tie and lead change of that span occurred when Johansson sunk a free throw to tie the game at 26, and then broke the tie, 28-26, after rebounding her missed free throw and hitting the layup.
But Smith's successful trip to the free throw line gave the Lopes a 30-28 with only 14.2 seconds remaining, marking the eighth and final lead change of the half.
In the paint, UAA shot better than GCU, 16-5, but the Lopes scored 14 points off turnovers while the Seawolves only scored five. Johansson led all scorers in the half with 12 points and three rebounds.
Moser said his team will be prepared no matter who they end up seeing in Monday's West Region title game.
"We've seen Western [Washington] three times so we know them really well," he said. Watching San Diego, they're just a great perimeter-type offense. They do a lot of things. That's way they've been ranked No. 1 in the country. I think they're a special team and they're definitely going to provide all sorts of challenges. Right now, whoever it is, we're in a game for the Elite Eight and that's all that matters. The pressure's on them. They're the No. 1 seed, we're the No. 2 seed."
