Aaron Walling / Sun Star
Click to view slideshow.Aaron Walling / Sun Star
The Alaska Nanooks Women’s Basketball team finished of their home games with two crucial victories in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. If the Nanooks keep their position in the standings, it will be their first time in the GNAC tournament.
The Nanooks took care of business on Saturday against Saint Martin’s University, but it was their upset over Seattle Pacific University that propelled them out of their losing skid. In a conference dominated by the Anchorage Seawolves and Western Washington, getting any kind of momentum during the season can help out.
Senior forward Jordan Wilson sank two free throws in the final eight seconds to put the Nanooks over SPU for the 63-61 win on Thursday night.
Before Wilson’s freshman class, the Nanooks were dismal. At one point they hadn’t won a game in between two seasons.
“It’s just how bad you want it,” Wilson said. “For [players] that have been here for four years we want to get to the GNAC Tournament. If it comes to making free throws in crunch time, then that’s what I have to do.”
Since the creation of the GNAC in 2002, the Nanooks women’s team hasn’t reached the postseason. The closest they have been was the 2014-2015 season where they went 14-14 overall, which was the first time they had a .500 record under Head Coach Cody Bench.
“These games feel like playoff games we’ve been playing lately. We want to go out on a high note, especially these seniors,” Bench said.
For Bench, it is the end of an era, as she has six seniors moving on after this season. Despite losing Wilson, Kaillee Skjold, Jaylee Mays, Gabriela Jimenez, Autumn Childers and Victoria Milton, the Nanooks are in prime position to make it to GNAC tournament in March.
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