College Hoops: Sayvia Sellers plays 96 minutes in two Pac-12 games; Chris Lee goes off in 2nd half; Ella Roberts has career-high 21 in finale (plus, Montes vs. Menard in NWC)

Sayvia Sellers

It might be a holiday weekend, but Sayvia Sellers was willing to put in some overtime.

The University of Washington freshman guard from Anchorage logged a combined 96 minutes in two Pac-12 games after the Huskies played double OT and triple OT in a three-day span.

Sellers was on the court for 54 minutes Sunday against Arizona State after playing 42 minutes Friday against Arizona, seeing more playing time in two games what some college players get in an entire season.

The 5-foot-7 playmaker averaged 17 points on 13-of-32 shooting in the road series highlighted by a career-high 20 against Arizona. She has reached double figures 10 times in 25 games, including five of her last six.

In the game against Arizona State, she hit a 3-pointer in OT and assisted on a bucket with 4 seconds left that forced a second OT.

Against Arizona, she converted a steal and layup near the end of regulation to give the Huskies a 60-56 lead and then did it again in OT, except this time she added an and-1 as the three-point play gave her team a 67-62 lead.

STEAL ➡️ AND 1 pic.twitter.com/IhrLA851iu

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 18, 2024

The point guard, who has recently worked her way into the starting lineup, had just six turnovers in those 96 minutes despite facing elite defenders and having the ball routinely as the floor general.

Sellers increased her scoring average to 8.0 per game, the highest it’s been in 10 weeks.

The former two-time Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year out of Mountain City Christian Academy has logged 40 or more minutes in three of her last four appearances, including another OT game last week against Stanford.

Washington lost all three OT games as the Huskies dropped to 13-12 – that’s more losses than Sellers had in her entire high school career (8).

At Edmonds College, Chris Lee of Ketchikan caught fire in the second half to bring his team back from a nine-point halftime deficit.

Chris Lee

The sophomore guard furnished 21 of his 23 points in the second half of a 67-61 victory over Skagit Valley in the NWAC. He made 8-of-14 shots in the half, including five of nine from 3-point land.

His layup with 1:12 left gave Edmonds a 63-61 lead and capped a 15-10 run during which Lee scored 10 points.

This performance came three days after he dropped a season-high 28 points on Shoreline to fuel a 77-74 win.

Lee missed the first half of the season and returned to the court Jan. 4. Since then, Edmonds has rattled off a 9-3 record with the 6-foot-1 Alaskan averaging 20 points on 54% shooting.

Edmonds (18-8) leads the NWAC North Conference at 8-3, one game ahead of Peninsula.

At George Fox University, Ella Roberts of Fairbanks ended the season on a high note after the senior pumped in a career-high 21 points in a 71-55 loss Willamette.

Ella Roberts

Her big scoring night was fueled by 9-of-10 free-throw shooting. She also grabbed seven rebounds, made three steals and blocked two shots.

The 5-foot-9 forward and former Lathrop High standout went crazy in the fourth quarter with nine points and two steals.

Roberts started the final 51 games of her career and finished with 705 points to crack Alaska’s all-time top-75 women’s college scoring list.

At Pacific Lutheran University, Delta Junction’s Jason Montes didn’t let Wasilla’s Sullivan Menard of Whitworth dance on his court.

Montes dropped in a season-high 22 points as the Lutes upset the league-leading Pirates to prevent a conference title for at least one night.

Menard had 15 points for Whitworth, which clinched the D3 Northwest Conference championship the next night.

Facing another Alaskan brought out the best in Montes, who drilled 7-of-12 field goals including four of eight 3-pointers to double his scoring average.

Lute Sport Network’s Jonathan Cohen catches up with @PLU_Mbball‘s Jason Montes after the Alaska native dropped a career-high 22 points in the upset win over NWC leading Whitworth! #GoLutes pic.twitter.com/kkfVwqb0xZ

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) February 17, 2024

The next night, Menard scored 20 points and was 11-of-13 from the free-throw line as Whitworth beat Puget Sound 77-53 to secure the top seed and home-court advantage for this week’s NWC tournament.

Menard, the 2019 Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year out of Colony High, increased his scoring average to 15.6, which is twice what it was last season (7.8) in his first year with the team after transferring from Western Wyoming Community College.

With 742 career points, Menard needs 21 more to match former UAF standout Mike Titus of Fairbanks for 90th on Alaska’s all-time men’s college scoring list.