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Women open GNAC tourney vs. NNU

Women's Basketball UAA Media Relations

Women open GNAC tourney vs. NNU

THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...

2011 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament
(All times AST)
Monday, Feb. 28 — First Round
#8 Simon Fraser (7-16, 4-14) at #1 Western Washington (24-2, 17-1), 4 pm
#7 NW Nazarene (14-12, 9-9) at #2 Alaska Anchorage (23-6, 14-4), 5:15 pm
#6 Western Oregon (11-15, 9-9) at #3 Seattle Pacific (19-7, 13-5), 4:15 pm
#5 Saint Martin's (15-11, 10-8) at #4 Montana St. Billings (15-11, 11-7), 6 pm
Wednesday, Mar. 2 — Semifinals
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed, time TBA
2nd-lowest remaining seed at 2nd-highest remaining seed, time TBA
Saturday, Mar. 5 — Championship game
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed, time TBA

RADIO: Live on FM-93.7 KAFC via the Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network, and on UAA student radio FM 88.1 KRUA.

TV: Catch replays of the NNU-UAA game by tuning to KCFT (GCI cable Ch. 19) at 9 p.m. Monday or 11 a.m. Tuesday.

ONLINE VIDEO: Click on the Calendar tab at GoSeawolves.com homepage to access for free.

ONLINE AUDIO: Online audio for select UAA women's games — including the NNU game — is available at GoSeawolves.com in the 'SplashZone' (subscription fee applies).

LIVE STATS: Available at GoSeawolves.com.

UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2010-11 stats)
G—Kaitlin McBride , 5-8, Sr. (8.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.7 spg, .794 FT)
G—Nikki Aden , 5-9, Sr. (10.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, 2.0 spg, .411 FG, .831 FT, 30.0 mpg)
G—Francesca De Angelis , 5-9, Jr. (2.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 1.0 spg, .706 FT)
F—Alysa Horn , 6-0, So. (11.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.9 apg, 1.3 spg, .427 FG, .358 3FG, .738 FT)
C—Hanna Johansson , 6-2, Jr. (13.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.0 apg, .515 FG, .654 FT)

WHAT'S AT STAKE: Monday's UAA-NNU winner advances to the GNAC Tournament semifinals; UAA would host again on Wednesday night while NNU would travel to another higher seed should it win … in addition to advancing in the GNAC tourney, the regionally 6th-ranked Seawolves are looking to solidify their playoff chances with a win over the Crusaders … NNU must run the table and win the GNAC tourney in order to gain the league's automatic bid to the Mar. 11-14 NCAA West Regional Championships.

SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS: Northwest Nazarene has lost four of its last six, however three of those games were decided by four points or less, and the other was a 85-78 triple-OT loss at MSU Billings in the longest game in GNAC women's history … the Nampa, Idaho, squad features great balance with six players who average between 7.8 and 11.0 points per game … NNU is led by Briaunna King (11.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, .466 FG, .769 FT) and Beth Johnson (10.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.5 spg, .487 FG, .794 FT).

THE SERIES vs NNU: UAA leads 13-10 (9-2 in Anchorage)
  Last Meeting: UAA 61-60 (2/5/11 at NNU)
  Streak: UAA 5  /  Notes: UAA has won nine of the last 10 meetings … UAA has won six straight in Anchorage … NNU's last win in Anchorage came 61-58, Jan. 27, 2005 … the home team has dominated the series, with UAA going 9-2 in Anchorage and 3-8 in Nampa … UAA leads 11-9 in GNAC regular-season meetings … this marks the second postseason meeting for the schools, following UAA's 64-54 NCAA 1st Round win in Seattle in 2009 … series started in 2000-01 when both teams were in the Pacific West Conference.

TEAM COMPARISONS    UAA   NNU
Overall Record      23-6  14-12
Conference Record   14-4  9-9
UAA Home/NNU Road   15-2  5-6
Points per Game     68.6  69.1
Points Allowed/Gm   52.2  64.5
Rebounding Diff.    +7.9  +3.1
Assists per Game    13.7  12.8
Turnovers per Game  16.8  19.7
Steals per Game     12.8  11.3
Blocks per Game     3.3   1.9
FG%                .393   .395
3-pt FG%           .279   .337
FT%                .714   .722

LAST TIME VS. NNU: Sr. PG Kaitlin McBride scored 13 points, including the game-winning jumper with 20 seconds remaining, to help UAA escape the Johnson Sports Center with a 61-60 win over the Crusaders on Feb. 5 … the Seawolves also got 18 points (8-13 FG) and 9 rebounds from Jr. C Hanna Johansson , plus 11 points apiece from Sr. G Nikki Aden and So. F Alysa Horn … the Crusaders took a 58-53 lead on a layup at the 3-minute mark, but McBride would take over from there, scoring eight points in the final two minutes … Horn clinched the win when she stole a baseline inbounds pass with 1.2 seconds remaining … Horn and Aden both shot 3 of 4 from three-point range, while McBride added a career-high 8 rebounds … Jr. F Kaylie Robison was clutch off the bench again with 6 points (3-3 FG) and 6 rebounds … Monica Garcia led NNU with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, while Megan Hingston had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, no turnovers, 3 blocks and 3 steals.

SENIOR NIGHT STOMPING: Senior guards Nikki Aden and Kaitlin McBride scored 14 points apiece and UAA used another dominating defensive performance Thursday to wrap up sole possession of second place in the GNAC with a 70-40 victory over Alaska Fairbanks … the Seawolves also got 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks from Jr. C Hanna Johansson and 10 points from So. F Alysa Horn in front of a 'Senior Night' crowd of 532 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex … holding a 26-20 lead at the 17:34 mark of the second half, UAA sandwiched three-pointers from Aden and Jr. F Tijera Mathews (3-6 3FG, 3 steals, career-high 6 rebounds and 3 assists) between a pair of jump shots by McBride to take command for good … UAA's third senior, Nikiski native Sarah Herrin , scored the Seawolves' first four points and equaled her season-high with 6 rebounds … Aden shot an efficient 6 of 9 from the field (2-4 3FGs) and matched her career-high for the fifth time with 8 rebounds … McBride shot 5 of 11 and dished 7 assists without a turnover, while Jr. F Kaylie Robison came off the bench for 7 rebounds and a career-high 3 blocks … UAA held UAF to 21.4 percent shooting (12 of 56), including 9.5 percent (2 of 21) from three-point range, and outrebounded the visitors 49-38 … the Seawolves have now won eight straight against the Nanooks and six in a row at the WFSC.

TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves have gained at least 23 wins for the fifth straight season … UAA had just one year with as many wins (24 in 1987-88) prior to head coach Tim Moser 's arrival in 2006-07 … UAA has claimed its fifth straight 20-win season and the 10th in program history … UAA earned 14 conference wins for the fourth time in program history, one shy of the record of 15 in 2007-08 … the Seawolves are in the top 25 in six categories — scoring defense (3rd, 52.7), scoring margin (10th, +16.6), turnover margin (11th, +7.14), rebounding margin (14th, 7.8), steals per game (17th, 12.8) and FG% defense (24th, .355) — in the latest NCAA Div. II statistical rankings (stats through Feb. 20) … UAA leads the GNAC in nine of 19 major categories — scoring defense, scoring margin, FG% defense, rebounds allowed (32.6), rebounding margin, offensive rebound pct. (.421), defensive rebound pct. (.709), steals per game and turnover margin … UAA has outrebounded its opponent in 23 games, including a 51-26 advantage against UC San Diego and a 42-28 edge against Kent State … the Seawolves have held their opponents under 40 percent shooting in 23 of 29 games and held 19 opponents to 55 or fewer points … in 157 games under Moser, the Seawolves have allowed .500-plus FG shooting just eight times, including just six times in 84 GNAC contests … since Moser took over at the beginning of the 2006-07 season, UAA has the 3rd-most wins (131) in the NCAA Division II women's ranks (Delta State 142; Holy Family 138).

PLAYER NOTES: With Thursday's win over UAF, Sr. G Nikki Aden extended her UAA record with her 106th victory in Green & Gold … Aden is having her best all-around season in her fourth year, holding GNAC top-20 stats marks in steals (5th, 2.0 spg), minutes played (10th, 30.0), 3FGs per game (12th, 1.3) and scoring (16th, 10.7 ppg); she would also be 3rd in FT% (.831), however she has recently fallen shy of the minimum number of attempts … the Oregonian's FT% is currently 4th-best on UAA's single-season list … Aden currently has the 2nd-most games played in program history (125) and will tie former teammate Rebecca Kielpinski (126, 2005-09) for that record on Monday … on other UAA career lists, Aden stands 5th in FT% (.792), 8th in 3FGs made (102), 11th in games started (71), 11th in steals (144) and 19th in scoring (807) … with at least one game remaining in her third season, Jr. C Hanna Johansson has moved into 5th place on the all-time victories list with 78 wins in a UAA uniform and needs just one more to tie Robin Graul (1985-89) and Diane Dobrich (1986-90) for 3rd on that list … the First Team All-GNAC selection currently paces the Seawolves in scoring (13.4 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg), blocks (0.9 bpg) and FG% (.515), and she holds GNAC top-10 ranks in scoring (7th), rebounding (8th), FG% (3rd), steals (9th, 1.7 spg), blocks (9th), FT made (2nd, 106) and offensive rebounding (3rd, 3.0 orpg) … the Swede has scored in double digits in 24 of the last 27 games … Johansson's career FG% of .533 currently ranks No. 2 on UAA's all-time list and No. 6 on the GNAC career list … Johansson was named to the all-tourney teams at all three of UAA's non-conference events (Disney Tip-Off, Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout, AT&T Hoops Classic) ... after totaling just 18 points and 12 rebounds in 53 minutes as a redshirt freshman, So. F Alysa Horn has blossomed into a Second Team All-GNAC selection this season, ranking second on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg), and leading the team in 3FG% (.358) … in the GNAC stats, the Kodiak native ranks 8th in 3FG%, 11th in scoring and 3FGs per game, and 14th in rebounding … Horn leads UAA with four double-doubles and has earned a pair of GNAC Player of the Week honors this season (Dec. 6-12 and Jan. 25-31) … Sr. PG Kaitlin McBride is also a Second Team All-GNAC honoree after finishing the regular season with a GNAC-best 2-to-1 assist-turnover ratio … the Washingtonian is 3rd in the GNAC in assists (4.0 apg), plus 5th in FT% (.794) and 10th in steals (1.7 spg) … McBride's FT% is currently No. 15 on UAA's single-season list, while her .738 career FT% is 8th on that list … Aden, Johansson and McBride give UAA three of the top 10 individuals in the GNAC's steals-per-game rankings … Jr. F Kaylie Robison grabbed seven more rebounds against UAF and is the team's 3rd-leading rebounder at 5.2 rpg … the Utah native ranks 5th in the GNAC in offensive rebounding (2.7 orpg) and 14th in blocks (0.7 bpg).

SMART SEAWOLVES: Five Seawolf players were among the 32 student-athletes honored Thursday on the GNAC All-Academic women's basketball team … the five set a program record for the most Seawolves named to any all-league academic squad in 27 years of conference affiliations … Sr. G Kaitlin McBride paced the Seawolves with her 3.73 grade-point average in sociology, while fellow seniors Nikki Aden (3.60, journalism & public communications) and Sarah Herrin (3.47, justice) were among seven women who made the team for the third time in their careers … Jr. C Hanna Johansson (3.62, journalism & public communications) earned her second career all-academic award, while sophomore Alysa Horn (3.55, physical education) earned the award in her first year of eligibility … Johansson was also recently voted to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District 8 Team, recognizing her as one of the top players and students among all non-Division I programs in the West Region.

REGIONAL RANKINGS: The Seawolves fell to No. 6 in the ffith week of the NCAA Division II West Region rankings (Feb. 23) … those rankings – compiled by the NCAA for all eight Division II regions – are the lone determining factor for NCAA Tournament qualification, including the opportunity to host the regional tournament … they will be released for the last time on Mar. 2, leading to the announcement of the playoff field on Mar. 6 … the rankings consider only games against Div. II competition and put an added emphasis on games against in-region opponents.

NCAA Div. II West Region Women's Basketball Rankings
Feb. 23, 2011
Rk  Team                vs DII  vs West Conf. This Wk
 1. Western Washington   22-1   20-1    GNAC  1-1
 2. Cal St Monterey Bay  22-2   22-2    CCAA  2-0
 3. Grand Canyon         21-2   16-2    PWC   1-0
 4. Cal Poly Pomona      20-2   20-2    CCAA  2-1
 5. Dixie State          17-2   16-2    PWC   1-0
 6. Alaska Anchorage     21-5   21-4    GNAC  1-0
 7. CS San Bernardino    16-5   16-5    CCAA  2-1
 8. Seattle Pacific      17-7   16-7    GNAC  2-0
 9. UC San Diego         18-9   18-8    CCAA  1-1
10. Hawaii Pacific       15-6   12-6    PWC   1-0
(D-II & West Region records as of Feb. 20)
(Next poll: Mar. 2)

NATIONAL RANKINGS: UAA fell to No. 19 in the latest ESPN/USA Today Division II Top 25 poll, released Feb. 22 … with Emporia State dropping out of this week's rankings, the Seawolves' 62 consecutive weeks are now the 2nd-longest streak in Division II behind Washburn (131) … UAA is the only team in Division II to remain in the top 20 for every poll since the beginning of the 2007-08 campaign … No. 6 Western Washington, No. 9 Grand Canyon, No. 12 Dixie State and No. 22 Cal State Monterey Bay are the other West Region teams in the poll … here is an abbreviated look at the rankings (full poll available at wbca.org):

ESPN/USA Today Division II Top 25 — Feb. 22, 2011
(UAA & opponents in bold ; West Region teams in italics )
Rk  Team (1st pl. votes)     Rec.   Pts  Last
 1. Clayton State [Ga.] (26) 26-0   722  1
 2. Lander [S.C.] (1)        25-1   690  2
 3. Fort Lewis [Colo.] (2)   24-1   648  4
 4. Arkansas Tech            22-2   627  5
 5. Delta St. [Miss.]        22-1   556  3
 6. Western Washington       23-1   549  6
 7. Michigan Tech            21-2   514  8
 8. Wayne State [Neb.]       22-2   506  9
 9. Grand Canyon [Ariz.]     23-2   448  10
10. Northeastern St. [Okla.] 21-3   434  6
12. Dixie State [Utah]       20-2   362  12
19. ALASKA ANCHORAGE         22-6   227  14
22. Cal State Monterey Bay   22-2   127  24
Others Receiving Votes: 27) Cal Poly Pomona 38 ; 38) Seattle Pacific 4 ; 42) Chico State 2 .

MOSER MAKES HIS MARK: In his 5th season, UAA head coach Tim Moser holds a 131-26 record ... in 2008-09 Moser was 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 3rd-most victories in women's Div. II basketball … under Moser, UAA is 80-5 at home (71-4 WFSC, 9-1 Sullivan); 64-8 in non-conference games (including NCAAs); 67-17 in GNAC games; 44-4 vs Div. II non-conference opponents in the regular season; and 9-1 against Div. I teams … in NCAA play, Moser's Seawolf teams have gone 10-4, including consecutive Final 4 runs in 2008 and 2009 … Moser is assisted by Rebecca Alvidrez (5th season), former Seawolf guards Tamar Gruwell (grad. asst., 1st season) and Elisha Harris (volunteer asst., 1st season), and Gabe Henry (volunteer asst., 1st season).

SEAWOLVES TABBED FOR 2ND: UAA was correctly picked to finish second in the 2010-11 Great Northwest Athletic Conference's women's basketball preseason coaches' poll, released Oct. 14 … the Seawolves were tabbed to finish behind defending champion Seattle Pacific, which received eight of 10 first-place votes from the league's head coaches … under head coach Tim Moser , the Seawolves have finished no worse than third in the GNAC in their four years, including a co-title with SPU in 2008-09 … here is the poll with actual finish denoted in the right-hand column.

2010-11 Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Rk  Team                   2009-10 Rec.(Pl.) Pts Act.
 1. Seattle Pacific (8)    27-4, 15-1 (1st)  96  3
 2. Alaska Anchorage (1)   24-5, 13-3 (3rd)  88  2
 3. Western Washington (1) 23-5, 14-2 (2nd)  79  1
 4. Simon Fraser           32-1, *17-1 (1st) 64  8
 5. Montana St. Billings   11-16, 4-12 (7th) 58  4
 6. Northwest Nazarene     19-8, 9-7 (4th)   51  6-t
 7. Saint Martin's         12-15, 6-10 (5th) 45  5
 8. Western Oregon         11-19, 6-10 (5th) 34  6-t
 9. Central Washington     7-19, 4-12 (7th)  24  9
10. Alaska Fairbanks       2-25, 1-15 (9th)  10  10
(Note: First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on 10-9-8-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. *Simon Fraser finished second in Canada West Pacific Division).

INJURY REPORT: After a strong start at the Disney Tip-Off Classic, Jr. PG Sasha King suffered an ACL injury late in the second half of UAA's game against Texas Woman's … the transfer from Hutchinson (Kan.) CC averaged 7.0 ppg and 2.7 apg through the first three games … UAA can petition for an injury redshirt for King, who will have played in less than 15 percent of the Seawolves' contests this year.

2010-11 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Nikki Aden
AT&T Hoops Classic Player of the Game vs Minot State, 12/10
AT&T Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team, 12/11
GNAC All-Academic Team, 2/23
Tanee' Denson-Griffin
Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team, 11/24
Sarah Herrin
GNAC All-Academic Team, 2/23
Alysa Horn
Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team, 11/24
AT&T Hoops Classic Player of the Game vs Dixie State, 12/11
AT&T Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team, 12/11
GNAC co-Player of the Week, 12/13
GNAC Player of the Week, 1/30
GNAC All-Academic Team, 2/23
Tijera Mathews
Carrs/Safeway Player of the Game vs San Jose State, 11/23
Kaitlin McBride
GNAC All-Academic Team, 2/23
Hanna Johansson
Disney's Tip-Off Classic All-Tournament Team, 11/14
GNAC Player of the Week, 11/15
Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team, 11/24
AT&T Hoops Classic Most Outstanding Player, 12/11
Capital One All-District Academic Third Team, 2/4
GNAC All-Academic Team, 2/23
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Players Mentioned

Elisha Harris

Elisha Harris

THR
5' 7"
Junior
Nikki Aden

#25 Nikki Aden

G/F
5' 8"
Freshman
Sarah Herrin

#RS Sarah Herrin

G
5' 8"
Junior
Alysa Horn

#RS Alysa Horn

F
5' 11"
Freshman
Hanna Johansson

#50 Hanna Johansson

F
6' 2"
Freshman
Tamar Gruwell

#14 Tamar Gruwell

G
5' 8"
Senior
Kaitlin McBride

#21 Kaitlin McBride

G
5' 7"
Junior
Francesca De Angelis

#33 Francesca De Angelis

G
5' 9"
Junior
Tanee

#20 Tanee' Denson-Griffin

G
5' 9"
Junior
Sasha King

#15 Sasha King

G
5' 6"
Junior
Tijera Mathews

#3 Tijera Mathews

G/F
5' 10"
Junior
Kaylie Robison

#24 Kaylie Robison

F
6' 0"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Elisha Harris

Elisha Harris

5' 7"
Junior
THR
Nikki Aden

#25 Nikki Aden

5' 8"
Freshman
G/F
Sarah Herrin

#RS Sarah Herrin

5' 8"
Junior
G
Alysa Horn

#RS Alysa Horn

5' 11"
Freshman
F
Hanna Johansson

#50 Hanna Johansson

6' 2"
Freshman
F
Tamar Gruwell

#14 Tamar Gruwell

5' 8"
Senior
G
Kaitlin McBride

#21 Kaitlin McBride

5' 7"
Junior
G
Francesca De Angelis

#33 Francesca De Angelis

5' 9"
Junior
G
Tanee

#20 Tanee' Denson-Griffin

5' 9"
Junior
G
Sasha King

#15 Sasha King

5' 6"
Junior
G
Tijera Mathews

#3 Tijera Mathews

5' 10"
Junior
G/F
Kaylie Robison

#24 Kaylie Robison

6' 0"
Junior
F