THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF BASKETBALL...
Saturday, Dec. 19 - Wells Fargo Sports Complex (1,250) - Anchorage, AK
Western State (3-6) vs #5 Alaska Anchorage (8-0), 5 pm
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Sunday, Dec. 20 - Wells Fargo Sports Complex (1,250) - Anchorage, AK
Western State vs #5 Alaska Anchorage, 5 pm
RADIO: Live on FM-93.7 KAFC and UAA student radio FM-88.1 KRUA
TV: Saturday's game will be shown tape delayed on KCFT Ch. 35 (GCI cable 19) at 9 p.m. that evening ... Sunday's game will air at 9 p.m. that night and again at 11 a.m. Monday.
ONLINE VIDEO & AUDIO: All UAA home games and select road contests will be video-streamed live (free) at www.greatnorthwest.tv ... online audio for all applicable UAA women's games is also at GoSeawolves.com in the 'SplashZone' (subscription fee applies).
LIVE STATS: Free at GoSeawolves.com
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2009-10 stats)
G-Kiki Taylor, 5-5, Sr. (8.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.9 apg, 2.8 spg, .382 FG)
G-Tamar Gruwell, 5-8, Sr. (10.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.1 apg, 2.3 spg, .350 3FG, .923 FT)
F-Nikki Aden, 5-8, Jr. (7.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.4 turnover/gm, .333 3FG, 9-10 FT)
F-Nicci Miller, 5-9, Sr. (18.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.9 spg, .514 FG, .406 3FG, .676 FT)
C-Hanna Johansson, 6-2, So. (6.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.8 spg, .500 FG, .643 FT)
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS: Western State snapped a 6-game losing streak with a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference home wins over Metro State (77-68) and Regis (84-76), Dec. 12 & 13 ... the Mountaineers, from Gunnison, Colo., feature four players who log 30 minutes or more per game, including 5-7 Sr. G Amber Murray (16.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, .353 3FG) and 5-10 So. G Brooke Pendergraft (14.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 21-67 3FGs).
THE SERIES vs Western State: UAA leads 2-0
Last Meeting: UAA 64, WSC 49 (12/31/04 at UAA)
Notes: UAA also beat WSC, 78-52, in the first of a similar two-game series in Dec. 2004 ... UAA is 65-15 all-time against teams from the state of Colorado.
SEAWOLVES DIAL UP AT&T WINS: UAA improved to 4-0 against West Region foes and won the unofficial team title of its inaugural AT&T Classic, Dec. 11 and 12 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex ... in the first game, UAA dominated BYU-Hawaii with a 50-35 rebounding advantage and held the Seasiders to 28 percent shooting in a 67-37 win ... Jr. F Kelsie Gourdin came off the bench for team-highs of 12 points (5-10 FG, 2-3 FT), 8 rebounds and 3 steals, while Sr. Gs Tamar Gruwell and Kiki Taylor tallied 11 points apiece ... in the second game, UAA got a strong test from three-time defending Pac West Conference champ Grand Canyon before pulling away in the final 8 minutes for a 84-70 win ... Gourdin scored 15 of her 22 points (6-9 FG, 1-1 3FG, 9-10 FT) in the first half, while Sr. F Nicci Miller did most of her damage after the break with 19 points (5-13 FG, 8-12 FT) and 8 rebounds ... Jr. G/F Nikki Aden came through with several big second-half shots to post a season-high 13 points (3-4 3FG, 4-4 FT), along with 5 rebounds and 3 assists, and So. F/C Hanna Johansson tallied 8 points (6-8 FT) and a career-high 9 rebounds ... Gourdin was named the event's Most Outstanding Player and was joined by Aden and Miller on the All-AT&T Classic Team.
HOME STREAKS EQUALED: After last week's victories, the Seawolves' have tied the school records for consecutive home victories at 29 overall (including Sullivan Arena) and 25 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex … a pair of win Saturday would break the former marks, both set from Feb. 25, 2006 to Jan. 19, 2008 … UAA's last home loss was a 78-77 defeat to 2nd-ranked Seattle Pacific on Feb. 7, 2008 ... UAA has gone 57-1 at home (49-1 WFSC, 8-0 Sullivan) over the last three-plus seasons, including a school-record 19-0 mark last year … the Seawolves have a 26-game winning streak against Div. II non-conference opponents at the WFSC, including a 17-0 record under Tim Moser; UAA's last D-II non-league loss came in Dec. 2003 to Western New Mexico.
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves' 8-game winning streak is currently tied for the 5th-longest in program history; two wins this week would tie the 2007-08 team for the 4th-longest streak ... with an all-time record of 498-405, UAA can also notch the 500th victory in program history ... the initial NCAA Div. II national statistics were released today, and UAA leads the nation in rebounding margin (+15.9) by almost one full board per game; the Seawolves are also in the top 20 in scoring margin (5th, +29.8), FG% defense (7th, .318), scoring defense (7th, 49.8), steals per game (10th, 15.1) and scoring offense (79.5) ... in the GNAC stats, the Seawolves lead the early statistical race in seven of 19 major categories, including scoring offense, rebounding margin and turnover margin (+6.0) ... UAA has held 34 of its last 42 opponents under 40 percent shooting, including in six of eight games this year ... UAA equaled its most-ever rebounds against a Div. II opponent and matched the 5th-largest differential in program history with a 64-32 edge in its Dec. 3 win over Nyack ... UAA also had a +32 rebound margin Nov. 16 against Hilo.
PLAYER NOTES: Sr. PG Kiki Taylor has gotten the starting call in all 43 games of her Seawolf career ... the Colorado Springs native holds the team lead in both assists (3.9 apg) and steals (2.8 spg) and ranks 3rd in rebounding (4.4 rpg) and 4th in scoring (8.4 ppg) ... in the GNAC stats, Taylor leads the league in assists and is tied for 3rd in steals ... Sr. SG Tamar Gruwell is UAA's 3rd-leading scorer so far with 10.0 ppg, while also nabbing 2.3 steals per contest - 8th-best in the GNAC ... the Californian has drained 14 3FGs to move up to No. 11 on UAA's career list (65); she needs eight more treys to move into the top 10 ... both Taylor and Gruwell earned spots on the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team ... Sr. F Nicci Miller is the GNAC's leading scorer and ranks 36th nationally with 18.3 ppg ... in other GNAC ranks, the Denver native is 7th in rebounding (7.1), 6th in FG% (.514, 63rd nationally) and 9th in 3FGs per game (1.6) ... last month, Miller became the fourth Seawolf to earn Shootout Most Outstanding Player honors and also captured GNAC Player of the Week after leading UAA with 39 points and 15 rebounds in its wins over Coastal Carolina and Cincinnati ... Miller has led the Seawolves in scoring in all six of eight games thus far, posting 18-plus points in all but one game ... Jr. G/F Nikki Aden has enhanced her reputation for quiet efficiency thus far, ranked 2nd in the GNAC with a 2.3-to-1 assist-turnover ratio ... ranking 8th overall in the league with 3.1 apg, Aden has committed only 11 turnovers while playing a team-high 226 minutes (28.3 mpg) ... in her three seasons, the Seawolves have gone 67-8 with the Portland, Ore., native in the lineup ... Aden cracked the double-digit mark for the fourth time in her career with 13 points against Grand Canyon, while her 7 rebounds against Nyack (Dec. 5) erased a career-high that had stood since December of her freshman year ... So. F/C Hanna Johansson is UAA's 2nd-leading rebounder (5.3), boosted by 28 boards in the last four games ... the Swede grabbed 7 steals in the Dec. 5 win over Nyack - the most steals by a Seawolf in the Tim Moser era - and is currently tied with Taylor for 3rd in the GNAC with 2.3 spg ... Jr. F Kelsie Gourdin has made a major impact after sitting out last as a transfer from fellow Div. II program Mesa (Colo.) State ... Gourdin has come off the bench in all eight games to rank as UAA's 2nd-leading scorer (10.9 ppg), including a career-best 22 points in the victory over Grand Canyon ... after shooting just four free throws in the first four games, the Colorado native has taken advantage of her aggressiveness this month, making 26 trips to the line in the last four outings ... Gourdin was the AT&T Player of the game in both of last week's contests and earned the event's Most Outstanding Player award.
MOSER MAKES HIS MARK: Along with his 309 victories at Otero (Colo.) Junior College, Seawolf head coach Tim Moser recorded his 400th collegiate victory with UAA's win over BYU-Hawaii on Dec. 11. .. last year Moser as honored for the second time in three seasons as the GNAC Coach of the Year, while also garnering his first WBCA West Region Coach-of-the-Year award ... since arriving at UAA in 2006, the Colorado native has led the Seawolves to the third-most victories in women's Div. II basketball with an 92-15 record in his three-plus campaigns ... under Moser, UAA is 57-1 at home (including Sullivan Arena); 53-4 in non-conference games (including NCAAs); 34-2 vs Div. II non-conference opponents in the regular season; and 8-0 against Div. I teams ... in NCAA play, Moser's Seawolf teams have gone 9-3, including consecutive Final 4 runs in 2008 and 2009 ... Moser is assisted by Rebecca Alvidrez (4th season) and former Seawolf guard Mari Riser (1st season).
GNAC FAVORITES: UAA was picked to win the league in the 9th annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll, released Oct. 27, receiving three of nine first-place votes. It is the second consecutive time UAA has been the coaches' pick to win the league. Here is a look at the predictions:
Pl Team (1st-pl. votes) 08-09 Recs. Pts '09 Finish
1. ALASKA ANCHORAGE (3) 31-4, 14-2 72 t-1st
2. Seattle Pacific (2) 23-5, 14-2 69 t-1st
3. Northwest Nazarene (2) 18-10, 11-5 65 t-3rd
4. Western Washington (2) 19-9, 11-5 64 t-3rd
5. Saint Martin's 16-12, 7-9 42 6th
6. Western Oregon 8-19, 3-13 32 8th
7. Montana State Billings 16-11, 8-8 28 5th
8. Central Washington 7-20, 4-12 24 7th
9. Alaska Fairbanks 5-20, 0-16 9 9th
INJURY REPORT: The Seawolves have no current health concerns.
