The Alaska Nanooks women’s basketball team was defeated by the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks, 84-45, in a road game held Thursday evening in Nampa, Idaho. The loss brings the Nanooks’ season record to 0-18 overall and 0-10 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) play.
Jazlynn Novelli scored the first points for Alaska at the 8:15 mark of the opening quarter with a jumper, narrowing the early deficit to 5-2. Novelli added another layup shortly after, but Northwest Nazarene responded with five unanswered points to extend their lead. Tamai Mancuso contributed her first points with a jumper, followed by Emily Freeman’s three-pointer. After a free throw from Mancuso, Alaska ended the first quarter trailing 19-10.
In the second quarter, Alaska struggled offensively and did not score until more than four minutes had passed. Mancuso broke the drought with a jumper and later converted a fastbreak layup off her own steal. Both Mancuso and Freeman made three-pointers late in the half, but Alaska entered halftime down by 19 points, with Northwest Nazarene leading 43-24.
After halftime, Northwest Nazarene continued to control the game. Mancuso again provided Alaska’s first points of the third quarter with a jumper and completed a three-point play later in the period. Novelli added another jumper before the end of the quarter as Alaska trailed 61-35 heading into the final period. In the fourth quarter, both Novelli and Mancuso hit three-pointers; however, Alaska was outscored 23-10 in that frame.
Mancuso led all Nanooks scorers with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting while also recording two rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Novelli finished with nine points and five rebounds.
Alaska shot 35.6% from the field (16-for-45), including just over 20% from beyond the arc (5-for-24), and made eight of twelve free throws. The team collected 29 rebounds compared to Northwest Nazarene’s 44. Turnovers were costly for Alaska as they scored only six points off turnovers while allowing their opponents to score 32 such points. The Nanooks also trailed slightly in points in the paint (29-27) and fastbreak points (23-9).
The Nanooks will continue their road trip on Saturday, January 31st against No. 9 Central Washington at 6 p.m. AKST.
“Tamai Mancuso led the Nanooks with 25 points on 9-17 shooting. She added two rebounds, two assists and two steals.”
“Jazlynn Novelli followed with nine points and finished with five rebounds.”
“The Nanooks shot 16-45 (35.6%) from the field, 5-24 (20.8%) from three and 8-12 from the free throw line.”
“The Nanooks grabbed 29 rebounds to NNU’s 44.”
“Alaska scored six points off turnovers during the game compared to 32 for the Nighthawks. They trailed in points in the paint (29-27) and fastbreak points (23-9).”
