Nampa, Idaho (Jan. 2) – Senior center Tori Hollingshead scored 19 points and equaled the UAA women’s basketball program record with 8-of-8 shooting Thursday, propelling a 72-59 victory over Northwest Nazarene at the Johnson Sports Center.

The Seawolves (12-2, 3-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 17 points from junior guard Elaina Mack as they forced the hosts into 31 turnovers and outshot them .433 to .389.

The Nighthawks (6-5, 0-2) were led by 10 points and seven rebounds from starting forward Kendall Clark.

“We showed outstanding poise and maturity tonight in a tough road environment,” said UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy, who improved to 19-7 against his alma mater. “They got a few transition layups that allowed them to stay close, but our halfcourt defense was terrific in the second half and our press finally paid dividends to help us pull away late.”

Despite getting off to a fast start, UAA saw an early 16-5 lead evaporate and fell behind 28-24 midway through the second quarter. Hollingshead got the Seawolves back on track, however, converting a dish from Mack and scoring on a putback to tie it.

Emilia Long’s midrange jumper gave UAA the lead for good at 33-32, and Mack helped expand to a 41-36 halftime advantage with the next five points.

After playing virtually even in the third quarter, the Seawolves’ defense took over. Freshman forward Ashlyn Rean scored two of her eight points to make it 61-51 with seven minutes remaining, and UAA led by double digits the rest of the way.

Hollingshead also had seven rebounds and a pair of big second-half blocks as the Utah native’s 8-of-8 shooting tied the program record established by All-American Hanna Johansson on Dec. 31, 2011 at Northwest Nazarene.

Rean grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while UAA got huge all-around efforts from seniors Long (13 points, 4 assists, 6 steals) and Jaisa Gamble (9 points, 4-4 FG, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, no turnovers).

UAA travels to Ellensburg, Wash., on Saturday for a 3 p.m. AST contest against fellow playoff contender Central Washington. Find links to live video and stats at GoSeawolves.com.

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