Alissa Pili
Two days after her 33-point barrage set a record for most points by an Alaskan at the NCAA Tournament, Alissa Pili’s encore left her opponent seeing double. The All-American forward from Anchorage registered her first career postseason double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds in Utah’s 63-56 victory Sunday over Princeton to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2006. Referred to as “the pride of Alaska” on the ESPN2 broadcast, Pili made 8-of-13 field goals and 11-of-13 free throws in a you-can’t-stop-me performance. She is the first Utah player with 20 points or more in an NCAA Tournament game since Kim Smith in 2003. The 6-foot-2 junior out of Dimond High has racked up 629 points on the season, ranking third among Alaska women at the NCAA Division I level, trailing only Fairbanks’ Ruthy Hebard (652) at Oregon and Eagle River’s Kelsey Griffin (685) at Nebraska. No. 2 seed Utah (27-4) will take on No. 3 Louisiana State on Friday in Greenville, South Carolina.
Jeriah Coleman
Anchorage’s Jeriah Coleman of Clarendon College has been named Western Junior College Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. The 7-foot-1 sophomore center also earned first team all-conference honors after he averaged 9.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 blocked shots and had eight double-doubles in 29 games. Coleman (West) ranked third in the NJCAA in blocks and furnished the finest triple-double by a college player from Alaska – 15 points, 15 rebounds, 15 blocked shots verses Wayland Baptist. His blocks total broke the state record, held previously by Wasilla’s Brittney Kroon (13) at Seattle Pacific and Kodiak’s Nick Billings (10) at Binghamton. Coleman is headed back to a NCAA Division I school as the former Saint Francis standout has collected multiple offers, including Saint Peter’s, Austin Peay, Western Michigan, UC Riverside and Norfolk State.
Bishop Tosi
Anchorage’s Bishop Tosi of Bellevue College matched game-high honors with 19 points to help the Bulldogs beat Everett 85-71 in Sunday’s title game at the NWAC Championships in Pasco, Washington. Tosi (Bartlett) logged 31 minutes, grabbed four rebounds and made 6-of-9 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws. He had 10 of his team’s 37 points in the first half. This was the fourth time in the last 11 games he scored exactly 19 points. The 6-foot-6 sophomore forward was a First Team All-NWAC selection and averaged 15.0 points and 8.7 rebounds in 32 games. The Everett team that faced Bellevue in the NWAC title game featured a pair of Alaskans in Tyriq Luke of Fairbanks and Colton Spencer of Palmer. Luke (West Valley) bagged 19 points and Spencer (Colony) added eight points and seven rebounds.