College Hoops: Evan Hoosier has 20-point double-double; Angelline Nageak snags eight steals; Ella Roberts blocks seven shots; Sierra Tate stands tall (plus our scoring list grows to 72 Alaskans – 72!)

Evan Hoosier

Anchorage’s Evan Hoosier had the kind of first-half performance players dream about: 14 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots in 11 minutes.

It helped the 6-foot-9 forward at NAIA Park University post career-high totals in points (20) and rebounds (11) against La Sierra in an 83-80 overtime loss in Gilbert, Ariz.

This was the second double-double in 21 games this season for the UAA transfer, who found his groove immediately by sinking his first four field goals and both free throws in the opening six minutes as Park built an early 16-8 advantage.

Hoosier, of Dimond High fame, finished the half 6-of-7 from the floor and cleaned up his only miss with an offensive rebound putback.

In the second half, his layup pulled Park within 60-55. In OT, his free throw put his team ahead 78-77.

At Division II Adams State, Angelline Nageak of Anchorage flirted with a triple-double and became the third Alaska woman to record eight steals in a college game.

Adams State’s Angelline Nageak of Anchorage defends UAA’s Senya Rabouin. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report

She finished with 10 points, eight assists and eight steals in an 86-82 OT loss to Metro State in Alamosa, Colo. Nageak joined Anchorage’s Tessla Rennie (11 for Everett in 2011) and Crista Wilson (9 for UAA in 2005) with eight or more steals.

The next night, Adams State knocked off 9th-ranked Colorado School of Mines 69-68 as Nageak (Dimond) nabbed six points, three steals and two assists while Elaina Watson (Colony) had five points and three assists, and Nyeniea John (West) added three points and five rebounds.

Nageak leads all Alaska women with 78 assists, with Utah’s Alissa Pili of Anchorage second at 57 and Portland State’s Mia ‘Uhila of Anchorage third at 55.

At Division III George Fox, Ella Roberts of Fairbanks was huge for the Bruins in a 56-50 victory over Pacific in Forest Grove, Ore., where she matched her season high with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go with eight rebounds and a career-high seven blocked shots.

Fairbanks’ Ella Roberts with the rejection. Photo by Naji Saker

Roberts rejected six different players in her block party, including Soldotna’s Danica Schmidt, a Pacific senior, who oddly enough was the last Alaskan to have seven blocks in a game in 2021 when she played for Lower Columbia.

Roberts, of Lathrop High fame, increased her career total to 77 blocked shots to move into 10th all-time in George Fox school history, passing Kristy Fleming’s 76 blocks from 1992-94.

The Alaska blocks record is 13 set in 2004 by Seattle Pacific’s Brittney Kroon of Wasilla.

Sierra Tate

At NAIA Oklahoma Panhandle State, Sierra Tate of Fairbanks scored a season-high 16 points to reach double figures for the eighth time this season in a 65-53 loss to Mid-American Christian in OKC.

Tate’s big game was keyed by 7-of-8 free-throw shooting. She drilled a 3-pointer and added three rebounds and three assists. The 5-foot-7 senior out of West Valley High leads the team with an 8.9-point scoring average and 30 assists in 18 games.

Panhandle State has an extended roster with 18 women having logged playing time, but Tate leads the way with 28.9 minutes per game in a strong indicator of her importance.

POINTS CHASE HEATS UP

Pili has already nailed down the women’s title among 38 Alaska women in the college ranks; for real, she could sit out the rest of the season and still be victorious by a comfortable margin. Of course, she has shut it down in another way, producing a pair of 37-point games against nationally ranked teams and reaching the 500-point benchmark for the third season in her All-American career.

Pili ranks second in the Pac-12 in scoring at 22.4 points per game and has piled up 1,953 between her time at USC and Utah, and needs 47 points to join Ruthy Hebard, DaJonee Hale and Kelsey Griffin in the exclusive AK 2K Club.

Damarion Delaney

On the men’s side, the points race among 33 Alaska men in the college ranks has heated up with four former Cook Inlet Conference players now separated by 44 total points. Southwestern Christian’s Jamari Lawrence (West) leads the way with 384 followed closely behind by Spokane’s Damarion Delaney (East), Metro State’s Brayden Maldonado (East) and Spokane’s Jahbez Sellers (East).

Lawrence is averaging 20.2 points in 19 games and owns Alaska’s two highest single-game totals among men with 35 and 34 points while Delaney leads Alaskans in the NWAC with a 16.7-point scoring average and has bagged 32 points twice.

When it comes to assists, UC Riverside point guard Isaiah Moses out of Dimond High is the only Alaskan to reach the century mark this season has he proves to be a dynamic dual threat at the Division I level.