ANCHORAGE – Senior guard
Safiyyah Yasin scored a career-high 25 points and junior center
Tennae Voliva had a career-high 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Sunday to power 16th-ranked Alaska Anchorage to a 110-82 blowout of San Francisco State in the D2 West Coast Classic at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (3-0) also got 11 points from all-tourney selection
Nicole Pinckney and 10 points from fellow sophomore guard
Jahnna Hajdukovich as they tied for the 8th-most points in program history and posted their third-most against a fellow NCAA Div. II opponent.
The Gators (0-2) were led by 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting from reserve guard Muirae Gomez, but the visitors committed 32 turnovers and were outscored 39-11 on points off turnovers.
"Fortunately it came in a victory, but I was extremely disappointed in our defensive effort tonight," said UAA head coach
Ryan McCarthy, whose team allowed its most points against a D-II non-conference foe since Dec. 2014. "We cannot foul like we did tonight, and we gave up altogether too many uncontested shots. On the positive side, we showed good offensive balance again tonight and executed our halfcourt sets well. Tennae and Safiyyah really led the way their veteran presences."
One night after beating Chaminade 93-45, the Seawolves led from start to finish again, scoring the first four points and jumping to a 16-6 lead after five minutes. UAA stretched its advantage to 30-16 after one quarter and 54-33 at halftime, shooting 20 of 40 from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
The visitors from the California Collegiate Athletic Association cut their deficit to 72-56 in the third quarter but could get no closer.
Nine different Seawolves produced at least six points, with Voliva shooting 7 of 9 from the field and collecting her second double-double in three games with 11 rebounds. The former East Anchorage High School star also went 6 of 6 from the foul stripe and registered three assists, three blocks and a pair of UAA's 20 steals, earning the event's Most Outstanding Player award.
Yasin topped her previous career-high of 22 points in the season-opening road win over St. Andrews, shooting 8 of 15 overall and 3 of 6 from long range. The Preseason All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection added five assists and four steals as she also made the All-Classic Team.
Senior point guard
Yazmeen Goo finished with nine points, six assists and four steals, while junior guards
Lauren Johnson and
Kedranea' Addison tallied eight points apiece.
The Seawolves get an 11-day break before facing Wisconsin-Parkside on Nov. 22 at the Alaska Airlines Center. Visit AlaskaAirlinesCenter.com for tickets.
D2 West Coast Classic All-Tournament Team
Jocelyn Gandara, UAF
Nicole Pinckney, UAA
Sam Tolliver, UAF
Safiyyah Yasin, UAA
Most Outstanding Player: Tennae Voliva, UAA