This Week in Alaska Anchorage Women's Basketball...
 
Seawolf Hoops Classic — Nov. 22 & 23 — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Friday's games
4:30 pm: #23/16 Westminster (4-0) vs Alaska Fairbanks (2-2)
7 pm: Wisconsin-Parkside (2-2) at #11/17 Alaska Anchorage (3-0)
Saturday's Games
1 pm: Wisconsin-Parkside vs Alaska Fairbanks
3:15 pm: #23/16 Westminster vs #11/17 Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: gnac.tv (all games)
 
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary (all games)
 
TICKETS: AlaskaAirlinesCenter.com
 
BACK ON THE COURT: Following 11 days off, 11th-ranked Alaska Anchorage gets back into non-conference action Friday and Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center when they host Wisconsin-Parkside and nationally ranked Westminster in the annual Seawolf Hoops Classic ... Saturday's clash with Westminster holds added importance as the Salt Lake City program counts as an NCAA Div. II West Region opponent.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS
G—Yazmeen Goo, 5-10, Sr. (5.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 7.0 apg, 3.5 spg, 3-4 FG)
G—Safiyyah Yasin, 5-6, Sr. (19.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 3.3 spg, .545 FG, .563 3FG, .824 FT)
G—Nicole Pinckney, 5-5, So. (11.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, 2.0 spg, .462 FG, .474 3FG)
F—Kimani Fernandez, 5-10, So. (8.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.0 spg, 3-5 FG, 2-3 FT)
F—Tennae Voliva, 6-0, Jr. (13.7 ppg, 11.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 2.0 bpg, 4.0 spg, .517 FG, .733 FT)
 
THE SERIES
vs. UW-Parkside: First meeting
 
vs. Westminster: Westminster leads 1-0
Last: Westminster 68-59 (1-3-04 at Westminster)
Notes: The Griffins were an NAIA program at the time of the teams' first meeting.
 
OPENING ROUTS: The Seawolves got the home portion of their schedule under way Nov. 9-10 with NCAA Div. II West Region blowouts of Chaminade (93-45) and San Francisco State (110-82) in the D2 West Coast Classic at the Alaska Airlines Center ... against the Silverswords, So. G Nicole Pinckney scored a career-high 17 points (5-9 3FG) and Jr. F Tennae Voliva collected 9 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and 4 steals to help UAA stay unbeaten all-time against the Honolulu school ... Jr. F Sala Langi and Sr. G Safiyyah Yasin added 12 points apiece as UAA outrebounded Chaminade 42-27 and forced 29 turnovers ... against the Gators, Yasin posted career highs of 25 points (8-15 FG) and 7 rebounds, while Voliva had career highs of 20 points (7-9 FG, 6-6 FT) and 3 blocks, plus 11 rebounds as she claimed the Classic Most Outstanding Player award ... Pinckney tallied 11 points and So. G Jahnna Hajdukovich added 10 poitns and 2 steals in just 10 minutes as the Seawolves posted the third-highest scoring total in program history against an NCAA Div. II opponent ... Pinckney and Yasin both joined Voliva on the all-tournament team.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Picked fourth of six teams in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's preseason poll, Wisconsin-Parkside has started with victories over Quincy (83-76) and Concordia-St. Paul (88-75), and losses vs. Truman State (82-71) and Minnesota-Duluth (81-65) … the Rangers feature three double-figure scorers, with Taylor Stephen (14.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 5.5 apg, 10-18 3FG), Alyssa Nelson (13.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, .583 FG, 9-18 3FG) and Claire Jakaitis (10.0 ppg, 1.3 bpg, .471 FG) … tabbed for second in the 16-team Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's preseason coaches' poll, Westminster has broken into the top 25 at No. 23 (coaches) and No. 16 (sports info directors) with its 4-0 start … the Griffins, from Salt Lake City, have already posted victories over 2019 NCAA Tournament qualifier Northwest Nazarene and GNAC preseason favorite Central Washington, led by the high-scoring trio of Sarah McGinley (18.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 2.0 apg, .444 3FG, .857 FT), Hunter Krebs (16.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, .824 FG) and Mariah Martin (16.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.5 apg, .512 FG, 4-10 3FG, 16-16 FT).
 
WINNING WAYS: The Seawolves have won at least 30 games in three of the last four seasons, starting with their NCAA Div. II-record 38 victories in 2015-16 ... last year UAA became the first basketball program to win at least a share of five straight GNAC regular-season titles (four outright, tied in 2018) ... UAA has recorded 25 wins for five straight seasons and produced 15 20-win seasons in 42 years of program history ... at 157-15 (.913), the Seawolves have the second-best winning percentage and second-most victories in NCAA Div. II since 2014-15, trailing Ashland (159-15, .914) for those honors ... UAA is a combined 99-8 – including 45-4 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games over the last five seasons (since Dec. 2014) ... the Seawolves have won 30 consecutive GNAC regular-season home contests, posting 10-0 marks the last three seasons ... UAA has gone a combined 184-16 (.920) in the last 13 seasons on its home courts, including 75-6 (.926) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... the Seawolves have won 51 of their last 52 regular-season games against Div. II non-conference opponents ... last year's Seawolves earned the program's 13th consecutive winning season and 12th NCAA Tournament berth in 13 years ... the Seawolves have won five of the nine GNAC Tournament titles since the event started in 2011.
 
NIFTY NUMBERS: Although it's early, UAA has assumed its familiar spot at the top the NCAA Div. II national stats in steals per game, with 63 swipes in the first three games ... in a new twist, the Seawolves premiere atop the national stats in a category they aren't known for – 3FGs made per game, at 13.7 ... UAA is also 2nd nationally in turnovers forced per game (33.3), 3rd in assists per game (26.7), 4th in scoring margin (37.0) and scoring offense (100.0), 7th in offensive rebounding (19.3) and 11th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) ... in the GNAC stats, the Seawolves lead in 10 of the 21 categories, and rank 2nd in three others ... through games of Nov. 19, UAA also features the GNAC individual leaders in scoring (Yasin, 19.7), rebounding (Voliva, 11.7), assists (Goo, 7.0), steals (Voliva, 4.0), blocks (Voliva, 2.0) and FT% (Sala Langi, 1.000).
 
OH MY GOO-NESS: An honorable mention All-GNAC selection the past two seasons and a Preseason All-GNAC Team pick this year, Sr. PG Yazmeen Goo made her season debut against Chaminade and San Francisco State, collecting 14 assists and 7 steals in the home openers ... in the early GNAC stats, the Bay Area product leads the way in assists per game (7.0) and is 3rd in steals per game (3.5) ... on UAA's career lists, Goo continues to rise the charts at 5th in assists (340), t-7th in assists per game (4.0), 6th in steals (216), 9th in steals per game (2.5), 12th in FTs made (235), 13th in FTs made per game (2.8), and 18th in FG% (.474).
 
YASIN HER LATELY: Another Preseason All-GNAC selection, Sr. G Safiyyah Yasin (suf-FEE-yuh ya-SEEN) is wreaking havoc on opposing defenses through three games, leading the GNAC with 19.7 ppg on shooting numbers of .545 FG, .563 3FG and .824 FT ... a key reserve in all 33 games last year, the Diablo Valley (Calif.) College transfer has already topped her previous career high twice, scoring 22 points in the opener at St. Andrews and 25 points in the win over S.F. State, along with a career-high 7 rebounds against the Gators ... in addition to her scoring, Yasin also holds early GNAC ranks of 3rd in A/T ratio (4.0), 7th in assists per game (4.0), 4th in steals per game (3.3), 7th in FG%, 10th in FT% and 4th in 3FG%.
 
TENNAE FOR EFFORT: A key reserve in her first season and a half, Jr. F/C Tennae Voliva (t'NAY voh-LEE-vuh) seems to have taken her game to the next level, averaging a double-double with 13.7 ppg and 11.7 rpg, and leading the GNAC in rebounding, steals per game (4.0) and blocks per game (2.0) ... with her first two career double-doubles in the opening three contests, Voliva has already established new career highs in points (20 vs. S.F. State), rebounds (12 vs St. Andrews and Chaminade), steals (6 at St. Andrews) and blocks (3 vs S.F. State), and she was named the Most Outstanding Player of the D2 West Coast Classic ... now with more than 100 career field goals, the former East Anchorage HS star premieres this week at No. 13 on UAA's all-time FG% list at .502.
 
PAW PRINTS: The Seawolves have gotten a huge boost from the return of redshirt So. G Nicole Pinckney, who has recovered from fall 2018 knee surgery to average 11.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals thus far, while shooting .474 (9 of 19) from 3FG range ... the former Chugiak HS star was an all-tourney selection at the D2 West Coast Classic, scoring a career-high 17 points (5-9 3FG) against Chaminade and tallying 11 points (3-7 3FG) and 2 steals in the win over S.F. State ... whether coming off the bench or in the starting lineup, Jr. F Sala Langi has emerged as one of the GNAC's most versatile players, delivering 8.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while shooting a league-best 7 of 7 from the FT line ... So. G Jahnna Hajdukovich scored 10 points in 10 minutes in the win over San Francisco State, reaching double figures for the third time in her young career.
 
TRANSFER STATION: The Seawolves feature three junior-college transfers and one NCAA Div. I transfer in their 2019-20 lineup, with each making a significant impact in the first three games ... along with becoming the first Louisiana native to play for the UAA program, Jr. G Kedranea' Addison brings a resume that includes NJCAA Second Team All-America and Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division Player of the Year honors from last year at Cowley (Kan.) College ... Jr. G Stephanie Jackson was a 14.5 ppg career scorer at Santa Fe (Fla.) College and a First Team All-MFC selection last year, while Jr. G Lauren Johnson starred at North Dakota State College of Science, where she averaged 13.0 ppg and shot .394 3FG last year, helping her team to 50-12 record over her two seasons ... Sr. F Amelia Motz comes to UAA after playing in 62 games over three seasons at Div. program Iona, where she averaged 3.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg and 1.6 apg as a sophomore.
 
MASTER OF MAYHEM: In his eighth season at UAA and ninth season as a head coach, Ryan McCarthy has ascended to the top of two impressive lists, as the NCAA Div. II active leader in career winning percentage (.813) and the all-time winningest coach in UAA women's basketball history ... since coming north in 2012, McCarthy has led the Seawolf program to unprecedented heights, capturing five straight GNAC regular-season titles (four outright), three GNAC Tournament titles, six straight NCAA Tournament berths, and ascending as high as No. 1 or No. 2 in the national rankings every season from 2014-15 through 2017-18 ... this year McCarthy earned his third consecutive GNAC Coach of the Year honor and fourth in the last five seasons, while he was the WBCA NCAA Div. II West Region Coach of the Year three straight times from 2015-17 ... in 2016-17, the Anchorage native led UAA to its third straight top-2 regional seed and its second straight 30-win season (30-2), while recording the first 20-0 league record in GNAC history ... the previous season, McCarthy's crew set an NCAA Div. II record with 38 victories, advancing all the way to the 2016 National Title Game in Indianapolis ... his 2014-15 club claimed what was then the best winning percentage in program history with a 29-2 (.935) mark, sweeping both GNAC titles as well ... McCarthy led UAA to an improvement in overall wins (17, 19, 29, 38) his first four seasons and increased the Seawolves' GNAC victory total in each of his first five campaigns (11, 12, 17, 18, 20) … playing its up-tempo 'Mayhem' style, McCarthy's crews led the nation in steals per game for four straight seasons  (2013-14 to 2016-17), while ranking 6th last year and 2nd this year ... McCarthy sports head-coaching records of 191-34 (.849) at UAA and 205-47 (.814) overall, having served in an interim capacity at Northwest Nazarene in 2010-11 … McCarthy is assisted by 8th-year associate head coach Shaina Afoa (the 2017-18 WBCA NCAA Div. II National Assistant Coach of the Year), 2nd-year assistant and former Seawolf Sierra Afoa, and 6th-year volunteer assistant Patrick Flanigin.
 
2019-20 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
YAZMEEN GOO
Preseason All-GNAC Team (unanimous)
NICOLE PINCKNEY
D2 West Coast Classic All-Tournament Team
TENNAE VOLIVA
D2 West Coast Classic Most Outstanding Player
SAFIYYAH YASIN
Preseason All-GNAC Team
D2 West Coast Classic All-Tournament Team