Women's basketball to honor trio on senior night against UAA

February 28, 2013

University Relations

Photo by Paul McCarthy
Photo by Paul McCarthy


Jamie Foland
907-474-6807

Closing out the season at home
The Nanooks conclude the 2012-13 regular season Saturday night when they host in-state rival Alaska Anchorage at 7 p.m. at the Patty Center. It will be the final game for three Nanooks as the team will recognize Taylor Altenburg, Marissa Atoruk and Jacqueline Lovato prior to tip-off.

Nanooks at a Glance
Alaska, winners of three straight games, currently sits 5-20 on the year with a 3-14 mark in GNAC play entering this week's pair season finale. The current win streak is the program's longest since the 2007-08 season when the Nanooks won six in a row.

The 'Nooks have a balanced scoring attack, led by Taylor Altenburg, who averages team-best of 9.8 points and 6.4 rebounds. Benissa Bulaya scores 8.3 points and 3.5 assists while Jacqueline Lovato and Kelly Logue contributes 8.3 points and 7.4 points, respectively. Alaska averages 63.1 points per game while allowing 72.8 per outing. It leads the GNAC with 10.6 steals and ranks third with 14.6 offensive rebounds per game.

Sweeping up the Competition
That's exactly what Alaska did last week as it downed Western Oregon 55-40 and held off Saint Martin's 67-65 in overtime to claim its first GNAC weekly sweep in nearly 13 months. Ironically, the last time the Nanooks swept a weekly series was against WOU and SMU at home last season.

Samantha Thornton was named GNAC Co-Player of the Week after averaging 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, which included a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's win against the Wolves. Other leading contributors included Kelly Logue, Benissa Bulaya and Marissa Atoruk. Logue scored 11.5 points while also making seven steals and four blocks. Bulaya averaged 8.0 points and 7.5 rebounds while Atoruk hit five threes on the week.

Nanooks in the GNAC Top-10 and National Rankings
Kelly Logue ranks third in the league in steals (2.6) while Taylor Altenburg rounds out the top 10 in rebounding (6.4). Benissa Bulaya is tied for fifth in shooting percentage (.468), sixth in steals (2.1) and eighth in assists (3.5). Nationally, the Nanooks rank 52nd in steals while Logue is 53rd individually in the theft department.

Scouting the Seawolves
Alaska Anchorage has won six straight games following last week's sweep and is 16-9 overall with a 10-7 mark in GNAC play. The Seawolves are currently fourth in the league standings and have clinched a spot in next week's conference tournament. UAA averages 69.8 points per game while holding foes to 64.8 points. It ranks second in free throw percentage (.761) and turnover margin (+3.76) and third in three-point shooting (.339) and steals (9.5). Sasha King is fifth on the league's scoring list (15.9) while Alysa Horn is right behind her in sixth (15.2). Horn is also second in rebounding (9.2) while Kylie Burns is sixth on the boards (7.3). Kings leads the GNAC in assists (6.0), steals (3.0) and treys made (2.5) while also ranking sixth from the free throw line (.803).

Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball
Game 26 vs. Alaska Anchorage (16-9, 10-7 GNAC)
Saturday, Mar. 2, 2013 | 7:00 p.m. | Patty Center
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