THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF BASKETBALL...

Friday, Dec. 29 — 5 pm AST
Anchorage, Alaska — Wells Fargo Sports Complex (1,250)
Notre Dame de Namur (0-9) at Alaska Anchorage (10-0)

LIVE RADIO: AM-550 KTZN 'The Zone' through the Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network with veteran play-by-play man Kelly Thompson on the call.
LIVE VIDEO WEBSTREAM (pay-per-view): Link through GoSeawolves.com by clicking on 'Hoops Zone.'
TV REPLAY: 8 p.m. on Anchorage's KCFT Ch. 35 (GCI cable 19)
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com

PROBABLE UAA STARTERS (2006-07 stats)
G—Keyona Brooks, 5-4, Fr. (2.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, .929 FT)
G—Jayci Stone, 5-10, Sr. (12.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.0 apg, .396 FG, .833 FT)
F—Maria Nilsson, Jr. (8.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, .403 FG, .364 3FG, .810 FT)
F—Mari Callahan, Sr. (5.6 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, .571 FG, .692 FT)
C—Rebecca Kielpinski, 6-2, So. (13.8 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 3.1 bpg)

SCOUTING THE ARGOS: Notre Dame de Namur, which is now a member of the Pacific West Conference, remained winless after dropping its most recent decisions, 61-44 at Cal State-Dominguez Hills and 71-32 at Cal State-San Bernardino. The Argonauts' closest call came in a 61-55 loss at UC Santa Cruz on Nov. 29. Jr. F Ramona Vae leads the team with 8.3 ppg and 6.4 rpg. NDNU is located in Belmont, Calif., just south of San Francisco, although the Argo women have not played a single home game there this season.

THE SERIES: UAA leads 3-0 overall and 2-0 at home … the last meetings came in Nov. 1997 when UAA swept the Argos 65-44 and 77-39.

FAST FACTS: UAA is off to the best start in program history at 10-0, improving on its previous best of 6-0 (1987-88, 1993-94, 1998-99). The Seawolves are one of just five undefeated teams of the 294 in the NCAA Div. II women's ranks … despite being 9-0, UAA leads the GNAC in only one team category with a +20.4 scoring margin. The Seawolves are second in FG%, FG% defense, 3FG made per game, and rebounding margin (+5.3).

SEAWOLVES BUST 'STANGS: The Seawolves got a good test from Southwest Minnesota State on Dec. 17 before pulling away for a 70-62 victory at the WFSC. So. C Rebecca Kielpinski had 15 points, 12 rebounds and a school-record 8 blocked shots, while Sr. G/F Jayci Stone and Sr. F Mari Callahan scored 10 points apiece. The Mustangs, of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, tied it three times early in the second stanza, the last at 32-32. But Kielpinski asserted herself with the game's next seven points and the Mustangs could not get closer. Callahan matched her career-high (for the 7th time) with 5 assists and scored all of her points in the second half to prevent a comeback by SMSU. Meanwhile, Fr. PG Keyona Brooks doubled her previous-best scoring output by making all eight of her free throws.

PLAYER NOTES: So. C Rebecca Kielpinski recorded her 19th career double-double (t-5th all-time at UAA) and broke the school record for blocks in a game Dec. 17 against SW Minnesota State. The previous record of seven was held by Dana Bottoms vs Seattle, 2/22/01; and by Sonya Welch vs Denver, 1/7/89. Kielpinski currently stands fourth on UAA's career blocks list with 82 and fifth in FG% at .508. For the season, the North Dakota native ranks 2nd in the GNAC in FG% (.528), rebounding (9.9 rpg) and blocks (3.1 bpg). Kielpinski earned Most Outstanding/MVP honors at both the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout and the Glacier Classic, and she was recognized as the GNAC preseason player of the year and one of the top 16 players in the country by Women's Div. II Bulletin … Sr. G/F Jayci Stone holds GNAC top-10 ranks in scoring (9th, 12.2 ppg), FT% (5th, .833) and 3FGs made per game (4th, 2.2), and 12th in rebounding (5.9 rpg). The New Mexico State transfer was chosen to the all-tournament teams at both the Shootout and Glacier Classic … Sr. F/C Tenecia Lockard had her best back-to-back offensive outings of the season at CSUMB, accounting for 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The Anchorage native has shot 17 of 28 (.617) over the last six games and now stands 13th on UAA's career FG% list (.472) … Jr. G/F Maria Nilsson broke the school record for 3FG pct. in a game when she nailed 6 of 7 (.857) against UC Riverside in the Shootout title-game win, breaking Melanie Iwamasa's 12-year-old mark of .800 (4-5). Nilsson ranks 7th in the GNAC in 3FG pct. at .400.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Seawolves again received no votes in the latest WBCA Division II top 25 poll, released Dec. 19. Henderson (Ark.) State is first, while GNAC rival Western Washington is 14th. Ninth-ranked Chico State is the only other West Region team in the poll.

INJURY REPORT: Jr. F LaToya Riggins tore her ACL on the first day of practice and will take an injury redshirt season.

SHOOTOUT CHAMPS! This year's version of the Seawolves wrote its place in the UAA history books with victories over Division I Air Force (62-60) and UC Riverside (72-67), Nov. 21-22, to win their own Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout. Led by tournament Most Outstanding Player Rebecca Kielpinski (tourney-best 17.0 ppg, 12.5 rpg) and All-Tournament selection Jayci Stone (14.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg), UAA won its third Shootout title in 27 tries … in the first-round win over Air Force, Sr. F Stone (21 pts, 10 reb, 5-12 FG, 3-6 3FG, 8-8 FT) and So. C Kielpinski (16 pts, 12 reb, 4-10 FG, 8-10 FT) both posted double-doubles, while Jr. G Jennifer Salazar chipped in 9 points (3-5 FG). The game featured 12 ties overall and eight lead changes in the second half alone. Kielpinski hit the winning basket with 22 seconds left, and Sr. Tenecia Lockard (6 pts, 8 reb, career-high 4 blks) blocked AFA's final shot to win the game … sharp-shooting Jr. G/F Maria Nilsson (22 pts, 7-10 FG, 6-7 3FG) led the way for UAA in its championship victory over UC Riverside, while Kielpinski came up huge again with 18 points (6-10 FG), 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. So. G Tristan Burnett had 7 points and 4 assists.

SEAWOLVES TABBED FOR 5TH: The Seawolves were picked to finish fifth of nine teams in the annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference's preseason coaches' poll, released Nov. 1. Here is a look at the original poll, with actual finish* denoted:
GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll
Rk Team (1st pl. votes)   05-06 Rec.   Pts
1. Western Washington (6) 27-2 (18-0)  83
2. Central Washington (2) 15-11 (9-9)  72
3. Seattle Pacific (1)    24-6 (16-2)  70
4. Seattle University     14-12 (9-9)  59
5. ALASKA ANCHORAGE       13-14 (6-12) 39
6. Northwest Nazarene     17-11 (11-7) 38
7. Alaska Fairbanks        7-19 (4-14) 27
8. Saint Martin's          9-17 (5-13) 21
9. Western Oregon          5-22 (2-16) 13
Points awarded on a 11-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis