LA JOLLA, Calif. - The second game of Friday's NCAA Division II West Region Tournament action featured another interstate thriller in which No. 2-seed Alaska Anchorage defeated No. 7-seed Cal State L.A., 65-56, on Friday afternoon at UC San Diego's RIMAC Arena to advance to the semifinals.
The Seawolves of UAA improved to 28-4 and will play No. 3 Grand Canyon on Saturday at 5 p.m. while the Golden Eagles conclude their season with an 18-12 overall record.
"We're fortunate that we got out of that game," said Seawolves head coach Tim Moser. "I thought Cal State L.A. had a great game plan for us and they knew some of our stuff. I give them a lot of credit. Coach (Janell) Jones did a tremendous job. They put us under a lot of pressure, but we'll learn from it and hopefully we'll do better against a very good Grand Canyon team tomorrow."
CSULA senior guard Jazzi Johnson led all scorers with 17 points and eight rebounds. She also had an assist and a steal. For UAA, senior forward Hanna Johansson scored a team-high 13 points and matched a team-high seven rebounds to go along with three assists and two steals. Johansson and junior guard Sasha King both agreed their defense was crucial to their win.
"Defensively, when we got charges and they stopped, I think that was a high point," King said.
Although the Golden Eagles went into the half down 29-23, CSULA played a more aggressive defense in the second half, forcing UAA to commit 11 second-half turnovers. But the Seawolves took advantage of the Eagles' closing-half shooting woes by draining their shots from both the arc and the charity stripe. The Eagles shot a dismal 8 for 29 (27.6 percent) from the paint in the second half.
Despite the lackluster shooting, Eagles head coach Janell Jones was pleased with her team's effort.
"We caused them 24 turnovers," Jones said. "I thought that was huge. I thought we fought. I was really proud of that effort. Being able to force and back out with them."
UAA maintained its lead throughout the second half, leading by as many as 14 when senior guard/forward Tijera Mathews hit a free throw with 3:04 remaining to give the Seawolves a 56-42 lead.
The Eagles whittled the lead down to eight at 59-51 when senior guard Jazzi Johnson drilled both of her free throws with 52 left to play.
Despite a five-seed difference in their region's bracket, the underdog Golden Eagles came out of the gate with an aggression characteristic of a top-seeded team and scored first on a layup from Johnson 1:36 into the game.
The Seawolves finally played up to that aggression during the middle of the opening half. Beginning with a jumper from junior guard Haley Holmstead at the 10:30 mark, the Seawolves not only took the lead but also jump-started an 11-0 run lasting nearly four minutes to lead, 23-13.
Down 27-20, CSULA senior guard Erika Ruiz cut the lead to four upon sinking a clutch three-pointer with 1:34 left in the half. But a foul on junior forward Alysa Horn proved costly as she made both her free throws to give the Seawolves a six-point halftime lead. Johansson led all first-half scorers with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Both teams made a pair of treys and seven free throws in the first half, but the Seawolves scored three more field goals, 10-7, and dominated the boards by grabbing 30 rebounds, while the Eagles only grabbed 14.
Moser said the Seawolves will need to put in a better effort on defense if they hope to beat Grand Canyon on Saturday.
"We got to take care of the ball," Moser said. "We got to do the things that got us here. We just got to relax and understand that it's just another game. Defensively, we got to take care of the ball."
