Box Score

Anchorage, AK -- Friday night inside the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, the Urban Knights valiantly fought back with a strong second half against Alaska Fairbanks, but the Nanooks would hold on for the 68-62 victory in game one of the AT&T Hoops Classic hosted by Alaska Anchorage. Sophomore forward Alisa Griggs posted 16 points with a career-high 14 rebounds while junior guard Jordan Rogers had the best game of her young ART U career with 16 points and six rebounds off the bench.

“Alisa is a hard matchup down in the post because she's so quick and has a great mid-range game. She's tough to guard,” head coach LaNay Larson said. “I thought she worked really hard on the boards when she was in there. Jordan had a great game and was a presence out there rebounding the ball. She definitely draws the defense well offensively too.”

The Nanooks started off hot, making four of their first six shots and leading 11-5 after the first four minutes had passed. However, two layups by Griggs and then five straight points by Rogers brought the Knights to within four, 15-11. After a pair of free throws made by freshman center Alexandria Coleman, Alaska Fairbanks proceeded to create some separation with a 6-0 run. UAF's ensuing 10-point advantage was their only double-digit margin of the half as freshman guard Vianai Austin soon knocked down a triple to keep ART U close.

“I thought Alex gave us great minutes, we just could have used her on the floor a little more,” Coach Larson said.

Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half with Coleman going to work, but it was the Nanooks who held a 32-24 halftime lead. UAF pushed that margin to as many as 12 early in the second period, but the Urban Knights refused to go away. A Griggs layup sparked a 7-2 burst which saw Rogers score another five consecutive points and senior guard Lorraine Etchell followed with a layup of her own. Now behind by just five, 40-35, Academy of Art battled to keep Fairbanks' lead in single digits.

Three quick baskets by junior forward Ariel Dale, senior guard Devin London, and Austin then composed a 6-0 run for ART U as the Knights crept closer before a Rogers 3-pointer brought them to within two, 48-46. The Academy of Art captains made a concerted effort to keep their team within striking distance, but UAF refused to relinquish the lead. Two points was as close as ART U would come, however, due to a late 5-0 run by Fairbanks. With just over a minute remaining, both teams missed critical free throws and thus the Nanooks' previously standing margin led them to a 68-62 victory.

“We had some turnovers and missed free throws in the last five minutes which is uncharacteristic of us,” Coach Larson said. “We're a pretty composed team, but we put ourselves in that situation and can't always be coming from behind. It's disappointing when you're in those kinds of games where you feel like you played well enough to win in most aspects. We just can't put them at the line so many times. That was the difference in the game.”

On the heels of her career scoring performance against Western Oregon, Griggs proceeded to set a new career-high with 14 rebounds to go with a 16 points. Rogers also chipped in 16 points, the most of her first three games as an Urban Knight, with 12 of those coming in the second half. London was the third ART U player to reach double figures offensively with 11 points (eight in the second period). A 20-8 Academy of Art domination of second half points in the paint and a 12-4 edge in second half points off turnovers helped the Knights get close, but UAF still managed to hang on. ART U's overall record now stands at 3-3 this season.

“It was a game of runs,” Coach Larson said. “We would put together a run and it was just tough with the fouls being called because those stoppages made it hard to get in a flow. Definitely the effort was there tonight and it's just those loose balls where we talked about not rewarding yourself on defense until you get that board. I thought we had a ton of good looks, we just struggled shooting. And when that happens, you have to just do a better job of rebounding and forcing turnovers. It's always good when you have more assists than turnovers, but we've got to get to the free throw line. We need more attempts than 18.”

The Nanoooks' Autumn Greene became a free throw shooting machine in this one with 12 of her 20 points coming at the foul line. She finished the game 12-of-16 at the stripe and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds all off the UAF bench. Nicole Bozek added 18 points (10-of-11 FT) with nine rebounds for an Alaska Fairbanks team that wound up converting 32-of-44 from the free throw line. Alaska Fairbanks moves to 4-6 on the season.

Academy of Art University returns to the court tomorrow evening at 5:15 PM AST (6:15 PM PST) for its matchup against #10 Alaska Anchorage.