Alaska Looks To Stomp Saints At Patty Center :: Need to know notes about tomorrow's game and the Alaska Nanooks

Jan. 18, 2008

• Saint Martin comes to the Patty Center sitting dead-even in the GNAC with a 2-2 mark, balancing losses to powerhouses Seattle Pacific and Alaska Anchorage with wins over Northwest Nazarene and Western Oregon. In their 13 games so far this season, the Saints have had 5 different players lead the team in scoring.

• Historically, the Nanooks have had the edge over the Saints, leading the all-time series by a 12-9 mark. Recent statistics, however, swing the pendulum back in favor of Saint Martin's, as they have beaten the Nanooks in three of their last five encounters, including a 6-4 advantage over the Blue and Gold in the last 10 meetings. Alaska are 3-5 against the Saints under current head coach Lynne Andrew.

• Co-captain Joscelyn Shumate had a career night in helping the Nanooks snap their four-game losing streak with a 77-60 win over Western Oregon on Thursday. Shumate tied a school record with six blocks in the contest, and recorded a career-high 20 points on her way to Toyota Player of the Game honors. The senior forward had eight rebounds as well.

• Fellow co-captain Kari Reabold recorded her third double-double of the season against the Wolves, grabbing 11 rebounds and chipping in 15 points.

• Alaska's Sheena Brown grabbed her second GNAC Player of the Week award on the season with a pair of jaw-dropping statistical performances for the Nanooks for the week of Jan. 7-13. The Lathrop High graduate posted 23 points, 19 of which came in the second half, and five steals against nationally-ranked Seattle Pacific on Jan. 3. Brown followed up that performance with a career-high 34-point effort against Montana State Billings on Jan 5: tying the 11th highest single-game scoring total in GNAC history. She also took home the award for the week of Dec. 10-16 after helping the Nanooks to three wins in four days on their Hawaiian road trip.

• Sheena Brown's 34-point performance against Montana State Billings marks the highest scoring output for the Nanooks since Cody Burgess hung 37 points on Central Washington on Dec. 2, 2004. Prior to Brown's accomplishment, no Alaska player had broken the 30-point barrier in nearly three years. Adrieene Taalak was the last player to do so, scoring 32 against Anchorage on Jan. 15, 2005.

• A full slate of GNAC action today sees Western Oregon travel to Alaska Anchorage, Central Washington hosts league leaders Seattle Pacific, Northwest Nazarene takes on Western Washington, and Seattle is at home against Montana State Billings.