Despite the high hopes for an electrifying game against the rival UAA Seawolves on Saturday at the Patty Center, the Nanooks’ women’s basketball got off to a dismal start going into the locker room down 35-9 at the half.

Even though the Nanooks outscored Anchorage 37-26 in the second half, it wasn’t enough to pull out the win as the Nanooks fell 61-46, dropping to 8-7 on the year and 1-6 in the GNAC.

The Seawolves took the momentum early and ran with it, dominating in both shots and rebounds, pulling down 45 compared to 32 for the Nanooks. Rebecca Kielpinski managed a double-double for the Seawolves, scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 16 rebounds, while teammates Maria Nilsson and Danielle Dekel had 12 points each.

“They came out and took us out of our game right away” said Coach Lynne Andrew later in a post-game press release.

Regardless of the score from the first half, the Nanooks came out looking to make a comeback, led mostly by junior Sheena Brown. Brown put up 28 points in the second half but was kept to just two in the first half. She shot 5-of-7 from behind the arc.

Brown had her second 30-point game of the season. Her first came against Northwest Nazarene where she managed a career-high performance of 34 points. That outstanding performance earned Brown her second Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week honor of the season.

“We just need to be able to come into the game with the same intensity that we did coming out of the locker room for the second half” said Andrew after the game.

The Nanooks now hit the road for games against Central Washington on Thursday and Western Washington on Friday. The Nanooks return to the Patty Center on Feb. 7 for a game against Northwest Nazarene.