LANGLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA - #7 ranked UT Tyler battled through a sluggish first half before turning up the heat over the final 20 minutes en route to a 33 point win over Alaska Fairbanks.
 
Tina Machalova led all scorers for the second straight game as she picked up 17 points on 4-11 shooting with a pair of three pointers and seven made free throws. She was joined in double digits by Ella Bradley and Gabby Elliott who totaled 15 and 11 each.
 
Play was slow to develop over the first six minutes of action as the Patriots held a slim lead of 6-5 thanks to four points from Bradley early. She would knock down a three pointer and then hand off scoring duties to Elliott for six straight points in the paint and a 15-7 lead over the first 10 minutes.
 
Bradley again came up big early in the second with a three pointer, spurring a 9-3 run over 3:17 of gametime to give the Patriots a 14 point advantage. The Nanooks battled back with a 9-1 run of their own to cut the deficit to six, but two layups from Sara Berglund and Mariah Neal calmed the seas and helped the Patriots hold a nine point lead at the halftime break.
 
In that first half, the Patriots defense shone in a big way as they held the Nanooks to just 7/26 (26.9%) from the floor and 5/14 (35.7%) from beyond the arc.
 
The second half saw the Patriots find their stride on offense, connecting on 15/32 (46.8%) of their attempts from the floor and 6/14 (42.8%0 of their three pointers.
 
That second half run was kicked off by a heroic effort from Machalova, who scored the first 12 points of the second half and 14 of the 18 total points scored in the third quarter. That 12 point run was part of a 12-5 run over a 2:35 stretch of gametime that expanded the Patriots lead out to 16.
 
With a 14 point lead heading in to the final frame, the Patriots got some quick offense right after an Elliott layup. Frances King dropped off a perfect pass to Montse Gutierrez in the corner, and she drilled the three pointer. King then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and laid it into spark am 11-0 Patriots run to get the lead out to 25.
 
One final run beginning at the 4:24 mark spurred again by an Elliott layup put the game into a comfortable margin. That 14-6 run saw six points from Berglund and buckets from Madyson Tate and Polina Latysheva to give the Patriots their final margin of 33 points.
 
As a team, the Patriots shot 39.1% from the field and 34.6% from deep. They held Alaska Fairbanks to just 27.1% from the floor and 25% from beyond the arc in the big win.
 
The Patriots forced 24 total turnovers from the Nanooks, and scored 22 points off of those turnovers. They held a 37-18 advantage in bench points and a 32-10 advantage in points in the paint.
 
Gutierrez chipped in seven points and seven rebounds, while Elliott and Machalova each added in six rebounds to their 11 and 17 point totals for the day.
 
Next up for #7 UT Tyler will be their final contest of the CCA Division II Canadian Tip Off Classic as they take on Central Washington at 2:45 CST.