Box score, play-by-play
 
ANCHORAGE – Going up against one scoring weapon is tough enough. But the Seattle Pacific Falcons squared off against two such weapons on Saturday night – and couldn't come up with an answer for either of them.
                                                                                      
Haley Holmstead and Hanna Johansson combined for 49 points, more than enough to offset a career-high performance by SPU's Betsy Kingma, as the No. 9-ranked Seawolves pulled away in the final 10 minutes for an 82-59 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory.
                        
Reserve sophomore guard Kingma (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS) scored a career-high 15 points, and sophomore forward Katie Benson also had 15 for Seattle Pacific (10-4, 4-2 GNAC).
 
But Holmstead pumped in 27 points and Johnanson had a monster double-double of 22 points and 18 rebounds for the Seawolves (14-2, 5-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) who led from start to finish at The Wells Fargo Center except for three first-half ties.
 
“You expect one of them to get their points, but two …” SPU head coach Julie heisey said. “I was worried all week about Johansson that they were going to go right at Katie, and she got into foul trouble. Holmstead we've seen on film, but that's all. (The junior guard, a transfer from Salt Lake Community College, is in her first year with Anchorage.) She's very, very hard to guard.”
 
SPU is back home in Brougham Pavilion this coming week, playing host to Central Washington on Thursday at 7 p.m. Northwest Nazarene comes to town on Saturday afternoon at 2.
 
Kingma's 15 points eclipsed her previous career high of 14, set on Dec. 19 against Pacific Lutheran.
 
“Betsy did a tremendous job,” Heisey said. “She came off confident, especially in the first half. And even in the second half, she hit some shots that we needed.”
 
Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) also grabbed seven rebounds and played 27 minutes despite picking up three first-half fouls and collecting her fourth with 8:38 left in the game. With her 15 points on Saturday, she is now just five short of 500 for her SPU career.
 
SPU senior guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) scored just seven points, but had another double-digit rebounding night with 10. Sims grabbed a career-high 19 in Thursday's 88-64 victory at Alaska Fairbanks.
 
Anchorage closed the first half with an 11-4 scoring run to extend a 26-25 lead to 37-29 at the intermission.
 
The Falcons cut it to six early in the second half at 41-35, and were still within range at 59-50 with 9:43 left. But the Seawolves, who shot 64.5 percent during the second half (20 of 31) blew it open from there, outscoring Seattle Pacific the rest of the way, 23-9.
 
“The good thing about tonight is Anchorage is a very, very good team. But I think we can fix things, and we can rebound better and we can learn how to play better defense,” Heisey said. “The nice thing is, it's January and there's a lot of season left.”
 
With Johansson's 18 boards leading the way, Anchorage had a sizable 46-35 rebounding advantage, with 16 of those at the offensive end (eight for Johansson) that were converted into 15 points.
 
Although the two teams have battled in some classic games over the years, especially recently, this was Anchorage's largest winning margin in the 56 all-time games between them. Previously, UAA's biggest win was 16 points, 71-55, early in the 1982-83 season. The largest margin for either team in the series was a 59-point Seattle Pacific win (98-39) late in the 1997-98 campaign.
 
“Right now, the kids are disappointed, and they want more,” Heisey said. “We just have to get back to the drawing board and find a better way.” 
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Wells Fargo Center / Anchorage, Alaska.
 
(No. 9) Alaska Anchorage 82, Seattle Pacific 59
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (10-4, 4-2 GNAC)
Benson 5-13, 5-6 15, Kingma 6-13 0-0 15, Callen 3-8 5-5 12, Sims 1-9 4-4 7, Reimer 1-3 2-2 4, Harazin 1-3 2-4 4, Murray 1-5 0-0 2, Butler 0-0 0-0 0, Thralls 0-0 0-0 0, Ohlsen 0-3 0-0 0, Teng 0-0 0-0 0, Gorman 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-59 18-21 59.
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (14-2, 5-0 GNAC)
Homlstead 12-22 2-2 27, Johansson 10-20 2-4 22, Horn 5-12 4-4 15, King 3-6 0-0 7, Mathews 1-2 4-4 7, Robison 2-4 0-0 4, Seale 0-0 0-0 0, Burns 0-2 0-0 0, Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Richens 0-0 0-0 0, Ryder 0-1 0-0 0, Madison 0-0 0-0 0, Nenbee 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 33-69 12-15 82.
 
Seattle Pacific                      29           30           -- 59
Alaska Anchorage               37           45           -- 82
 
3-point goals – SPU 5-19 (Kingma 3-6, Callen 1-2, Sims 1-3, Murray 0-2, Ohlsen 0-2, Gorman 0-2, Harazin 0-1, Benson 0-1), UAA 4-11 (Mathews 1-1, King 1-3, Holmstead 1-1, Horn 1-4, Burns 0-2). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 35 (Sims 10), UAA 46 (Johansson 18). Assists – SPU 17, UAA 23. Turnovers – SPU 17, UAA 9. Total fouls – SPU 16, UAA 19. Technical fouls – None. A – 513.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 10-4, 4-2 GNAC. Alaska Anchorage 14-2, 5-0 GNAC.
 
Next game – Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, Thursday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.