In the first of the doubleheader basketball games on Saturday, the struggling UAF women's team met a strong St. Martin's Saints squad that has already soundly beaten the Nanooks once this season. Would this time be different?

 The 'Nooks started in typical fashion, scoring early, playing strong and finding themselves with a nine point lead at the half. Despite reliably solid play from star guards Cecilia Chan, Adrienne Taalak, and Valerie Hartman, the team has a habit of blowing such leads in the second half. Although the Saints did manage to briefly gain the advantage with 11:30 left in the second half, the Nanooks managed to maintain their composure and continue scoring points in the face of adversity.

 The story of the game was the stellar play by the fabulous freshmen center Karen Rabung and forward Marsha Schirack. Rabung's six points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots are impressive statistics, but they don't reveal the true importance of her performance. The strong play by the center created open shots for other players on offense by forcing the defense to respect her scoring and rebounding ability in the low post. Schirack also had eight rebounds and an excellent game under the hoop, but her 17 points is what really made the difference in the game. Chan and Taalak also had double figures in points, and the Nanooks captured an impressive 67-51 victory.

 The team had 17 assists with only 14 turnovers, and with performances like that, the Nanooks have a chance to salvage a respectable season from the seven games left on their schedule. Now that the losing streak is over, the team can take the advice given to Rabung by forward Cody Burgess, advice perhaps we can all take: "Breathe."

 The Nanooks came down like a wolf on the fold;

Their opponents were crushed by the blue and the gold;

Not a prayer saved the Saints from the hunt on the ice

As the mighty white bear took a Seadog that night.

In the second game, the men's team faced off against archrival UAA. The game's defensive emphasis meant only 19 points were scored between the two teams after almost 10 minutes of play. After the slow start though, the Nanooks steadily pulled further ahead, leading 30-22 at the half, and finishing with a 70-56 victory. Seawolves' Peter Bullock, a preseason All-American, worried the 'Nooks somewhat, but sophomore forward Andrew Smith was more than effective, holding Bullock to far less than his 20 points per game average.

At first, something seemed not right with the UAA team, as a number of their players looked like henchmen from gangster movies, but by the middle of the second half the Nanooks made the Seawolves just look like a high school team. Quite frankly, the best part of the game was listening to guard Ryan Jones' mom yell at the referees from the stands. While Jones is the teams third leading scorer, the senior seems the consummate support player: he doesn't go for the highlight plays and never makes mistakes. His example, and his mom, will be missed next season.

Head coach Al Sokaitis had little to say after the game other than to comment on how well the Nanooks played. He seemed particularly impressed with guard Zac Forsyth when substituting for superstar guard Brad Oleson, and with the job done by forwards Tristan Below, and Justin Bourne in the paint. The Nanooks are now 13 and 6, and with eight games left in the season, they need to go 6-2 to guarantee a spot in the conference tournament. If they continue to play like they did Saturday night, that shouldn't be a problem.

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