FAIRBANKS, Alaska — After seeing their first defeat of the 2021-2022 season against Northwood on Thanksgiving, the Storm had a comeback calling as they prepared to take on the No. 20 Spartans of Tampa University.

With a three-game back-to-back schedule at the Alaska Tournament, the Storm (4-2, 0-0 GAC) were not given much of a turn around to prepare to take on the No. 20 Spartans (7-2, 1-0 SSC). 

After allowing Northwood to secure 17 offensive boards in Game 1, the Storm reevaluated their defensive focus and only gave up nine offensive rebounds to Tampa while allowing them only 15 second chance points that game. What caught the Storm was Tampa's better shooting day as the Spartan's showed a 45.7 field goal percentage compared to the Storm's 40.7 percent from the outside.

A collective effort early on propelled the Storm to claim the lead at 14-8 in the first. From that point on, the lead was a tug-o-war between the two teams and the Spartans ended up claiming the halftime advantage at 29-28. Off the bench, Emily Monaghan was keeping the Spartans on their toes as she went 3-5 from outside grabbing eight first half points to lead SNU.

Tampa headed into the third with their eyes set on the three-point arc. The Spartans hit three midway through the third, but a couple of quick-hitters by Abby Niehues kept the Storm alive and it was gridlocked at 43 a piece moving into the final 10 minutes.

The scoring gap stayed within just three points as scores were exchanged on both ends. Jaycee Soap knocked one down from deep to put the Storm at 48-45 early in the fourth, but Tampa continued to answer and they hit a few to put themselves back on top. 

At the 1:43 minute marker, the scoreboard read 55-54 in favor of Tampa. After a couple of timeouts, the Storm were in need of a foul to halt the clock which put Tampa's point guard on the line for two. Kayla Bonilla sunk both in for the Spartans which gave them the three-point advantage with 10 seconds remaining in the contest.

Given the final possession of the game, the Storm needed to hit one from downtown in order to tie the ball game. The final seconds ticked down and the Storm put one up from the left wing. The miracle shot was no good and SNU fell just shy at 54-57 to Tampa.

Niehues was back in action with 12 points, four rebounds, and two blocks keeping the Storm within arm's reach of the Spartans. 

Another double figurer achiever was Cassandra Awatt as she registered 10 points with two rebounds and an assist. Right behind her was Jaycee Soap as she tallied nine points, four assists, and grabbed the most rebounds out of her squad with five.

Emily Monaghan ended up with eight points and four assists while Belle Frazier added seven points. Alexus Jones continued to dish the ball as she grabbed four assists of her own. 

The Storm have one final matchup within the Alaska series as they face the host of the tournament (Alaska Fairbanks) at 3:00 p.m. AKDT (6:00 p.m. CST) Saturday afternoon.