Thanksgiving saw the final Great Alaska Shootout at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and local college basketball fans had plenty to be thankful for.
In the championship game between the University of Alaska Anchorage women’s team and Tulsa, UAA came back with 6 minutes left on the clock to win 59-53. This is the women’s seventh tournament championship in their final Shootout game.
The UAA men lost to California State University Bakersfield on Wednesday and were even closer to total elimination last night, trailed by 6 points with less than a minute and a half on the clock. A couple three-pointers, including one at the buzzer, sent the game into overtime. That’s when some layups and rebounds led the Seawolves to a 78-73 victory over Santa Clara. They will play College of Charleston on Saturday for the fourth place spot in the tournament.
This story contained contributions from Alaska Public Media’s Wesley Early.
Emily Russell is the voice of Alaska morning news as Alaska Public Media’s Morning News Host and Producer.
Originally from the Adirondacks in upstate New York, Emily moved to Alaska in 2012. She skied her way through three winters in Fairbanks, earning her Master’s degree in Northern Studies from UAF.
Emily’s career in radio started in Nome in 2015, reporting for KNOM on everything from subsistence whale harvests to housing shortages in Native villages. She then worked for KCAW in Sitka, finally seeing what all the fuss with Southeast, Alaska was all about.
Back on the road system, Emily is looking forward to driving her Subaru around the region to hike, hunt, fish and pick as many berries as possible. When she’s not talking into the mic in the morning, Emily can be found reporting from the peaks above Anchorage to the rivers around Southcentral.
Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
