Valerie Wakefield led Multnomah in scoring for the second day in a row with 16 points as the Lions fell 70-31 at Alaska Fairbanks Sunday afternoon.
ALASKA FAIRBANKS 70, MULTNOMAH 31: Lions Finish Non-CCC Play with Loss to Nanooks
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Bringing the non-conference portion of their season to a close, the Multnomah University Lions were held to single digits in three different quarters and fell to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks Nanooks for the second straight day 70-31 Sunday afternoon here at the Alaska Airlines Court.
The home team scored the first 11 points of the game before Valerie Wakefield tallied the Lions' first points on a jumper with 2:37 left in the opening period. Multnomah was down at the end of the quarter 14-2, but the Lions held their own with the NCAA Division II Nanooks in the second period, being out-scored only 15-14. Wakefield twice brought the Lions within eight points with a jumper that made it 16-8 and a three-pointer shortly thereafter to make it 19-11, but that was as close as they would get.
Fairbanks held a 29-16 halftime lead, and the Nanooks pulled away in the second half by shooting over 50 percent (16-31) while holding the Lions to under 20 percent (5-28) from the field in the final 20 minutes. The final score was UAF's largest margin of the game.
--- By the Numbers: Wakefield led the Lions in scoring for the second game in a row with 16 points, while Bethany George just missed double digits with nine points, all on threes. The Lions finished with a .208 shooting mark (11-53) while the defense held the Nanooks to a .391 percentage (25-64), well below the .574 they had shot the day before. Paris Sanders grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, and Anissa Behymer-Smith picked up five steals.
Fairbanks got 19 points from Angela Murnion and 10 from Lexi Carpenter. Brittany Richards had nine rebounds as the Nanooks held a 49-36 advantage on the glass. Sabrina Ungaro passed out five assists, and Murnion made three steals.
Multnomah is now 0-13 on the season, while Alaska Fairbanks improves to 4-5.
--- Next: Multnomah returns to Cascade Collegiate Conference play on Dec. 29 with a 5:30 p.m. game at the Oregon Institute of Technology … Alaska Fairbanks visits Western Washington University on Dec. 29 for a 6:00 p.m. Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest.