Dec. 3, 2016 Box Score
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Taylor Peacocke scored a game-high 27 points and Western Washington University battled No. 9 Alaska Anchorage in a close contest but the Seawolves held off the Vikings for an 80-69 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Alaska Airlines Center in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
The Vikings had a four-game win streak snapped, falling to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in the GNAC. The Seawolves improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
Peacocke (Sr., G, Kenmore, WA/Inglemoor) scored 21 of her 27 points after halftime, including 13 in the fourth quarter. Sophomore center Nikki Corbett (Camas, WA) tied a career high with 16 points to help pace the offense.
Alaska Anchorage led for nearly the entire game, although WWU led twice during the third quarter and kept the deficit within single digits for much of the contest.
The Seawolves opened the game on a 9-2 run but the Vikings quickly recovered and closed the gap, tying the game at 16-16 on a jumper from Peacocke with 1:00 to play in the opening quarter.
Alaska Anchorage opened a 30-24 advantage during the second quarter, only to have WWU answer with an 8-2 spurt and tie the game at 32-32 with under a minute to play in the second quarter. But the Seawolves responded again and took a 38-32 lead into halftime.
The Seawolves scored the opening basket of the third quarter to open an 8-point lead and maintained an advantage until WWU battled back to grab the lead at 45-44 on a layup from Corbett with 4:47 to play in the quarter. The Vikings second lead came at 50-48 after a pair of free throws from Peacocke followed by Corbett making 1 of 2 free throws on the next WWU possession. But Alaska Anchorage again closed well to finish the quarter with an 8-1 run to lead 56-51.
The Seawolves continued to lead early in the fourth quarter and extended the lead to double digits midway through the quarter. The Vikings closed the gap to 69-63 after three free throws were made by Peacocke with 2:51 left in the game, but once again the Seawolves answered with an 8-0 run and pulled away and secure the win.
"We just made too many little mistakes," said head coach Carmen Dolfo. "Mistakes that we can change but we are going to need a focus from each player to make those small changes."
Senior forward Tia Briggs (Tacoma, WA/Wilson) added 9 points while senior guard Jessica Valley (Lafayette, IN/Nova Southeastern) grabbed a game-high 7 rebounds and added 4 assists. Corbett scored her 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting while Peacocke was 9-for-19 from the field and also added 5 assists. With the scoring effort, Peacocke moved into 8th place among the all-time scoring leaders at WWU with a career total of 1,386 points.
Autummn Williams scored 21 points to lead the Seawolves, while Tara Thompson added 12 points and Kiki Robertson score 10 points to go along with 8 assists and 6 steals.
The Vikings shot 51.9% (28-for-54) but only 3-for-11 (27.3%) from three-point range. WWU was 76.9% at the free throw line, making 10-of-13 free throws.
Alaska Anchorage finished 48.4% from the field (31-for-64), making 8-of-21 three-pointers (38.1%). The Seawolves went 10-for-12 (83.3%) at the free throw line.
Next on the schedule for WWU is the South Point Hoops Holiday Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Vikings will face Angelo State at December 17 (1 pm PT) and Eastern New Mexico on December 19 (1:15 pm PT).
Game Notes: Taylor Peacocke now has 1,386 career points, moving into 8th place in the WWU record books, passing Amanda Olsen who scored 1,367 points from 1996-2000... WWU was 10-for-13 (76.9%) from the free throw line, and is now 167-for-207 (80.6%) from the free throw line this season.
