This Week in Alaska Anchorage Women's Basketball...

Wed., Nov. 27, 10 a.m. AST — de Hoernle Sports & Cultural Ctr. — Boca Raton, FL
#10/12 Alaska Anchorage (5-0) at Lynn (2-4)
 
Fri., Nov. 29, Noon AST — Health & Sports Center — Miami Shores, FL
#10/12 Alaska Anchorage at Barry (1-2)
 
Sat., Nov. 30, Noon AST — Health & Sports Center — Miami Shores, FL
#10/12 Alaska Anchorage vs Nova Southeastern (1-3 [11/29 vs Daemen])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Wednesday — sunshinestateconference.tv/lynn
                      Friday & Saturday — sunshinestateconference.tv/barry
 
LIVE STATS: Wednesday — stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=279933
                       Friday — http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=279155
                       Saturday — TBA, check GoSeawolves.com for link
 
RARE TRIP: UAA goes (far) outside the West Region this week, taking on three Sunshine State Conference foes in Florida ... the road trip is UAA's longest in the regular season since playing a pair of neutral-court games at the Lynn Shootout in Boca Raton, Fla., in Dec. 2001.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS
G—Yazmeen Goo, 5-10, Sr. (9.0 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 5.8 apg, 2.5 spg, .550 FG, .650 FT)
G—Safiyyah Yasin, 5-6, Sr. (17.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.8 apg, 2.8 spg, .537 FG, .478 3FG, .792 FT)
G—Nicole Pinckney, 5-5, So. (9.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.6 spg, .425 FG, .452 3FG)
F—Kimani Fernandez, 5-10, So. (7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .600 FG)
F—Tennae Voliva, 6-0, Jr. (13.2 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.8 bpg, 2.8 spg, .585 FG, .783 FT)
 
THE SERIES
vs. Lynn: Lynn leads 3-0
Last: Lynn 65-60 (11-20-00 at UAA)
Notes: The first three meetings took place in Anchorage ... Lynn earned a pair of narrow victories, including an overtime contest, in the first meetings in Dec. 1994.
 
vs. Barry & Nova Southeastern: First meetings
 
CHALLENGE MET: The Seawolves stayed perfect last week with an 86-57 victory over Wisconsin-Parkside and a 69-56 win over No. 23 Westminster in the Seawolf Hoops Classic at the Alaska Airlines Center ... in the first game, Sr. G Safiyyah Yasin scored 19 points (6-12 FG) and Jr. C Tennae Voliva collected 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks to help UAA to a rout of the visitors from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference ... So. G Nicole Pinckney added 13 points (4-7 3FG) and Sr. PG Yazmeen Goo had 11 points (3-5 FG), 5 assists and 2 steals as UAA outshot the Rangers .491 to .304 and outrebounded them 46-26 ... on Saturday, UAA played its first ranked non-conference opponent at home since 2015-16, getting 14 points and 4 assists from Goo to help fend off the Griffins ... Voliva had 11 points and 7 rebounds, Yasin added 10 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and no turnovers, and Sr. F Amelia Motz came off the bench with 6 points and 11 rebounds as the Seawolves succeeded in their biggest challenge of the season so far ... Goo was named the Classic's Most Outstanding Player, while Yasin and Voliva made the all-tourney team.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: UAA's three opponents this week were picked second (Nova Southeastern), seventh (Lynn) and eighth (Barry) in the 11-team Sunshine State Conference preseason poll.
 
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 159-15 (.914), the Seawolves have the second-best winning percentage and second-most victories in NCAA Div. II since 2014-15, trailing Ashland (161-15, .915) 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 186-16 (.921) in the last 13 seasons on its home courts, including 77-6 (.928) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... the Seawolves have won 53 of their last 54 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 position in the top 10 of the NCAA Div. II national stats in multiple categories, ranking 3rd in steals per game (16.8) and assists per game (24.0), 4th in scoring offense (91.0 ppg), 5th in 3FGs per game (10.8), and 6th in scoring margin (+30.6), turnover margin (+12.0), turnovers forced per game (26.6) and assist/turnover ratio (1.64) ... in the GNAC stats, the Seawolves lead in 10 of the 21 categories, and rank 2nd in five others ... through games of Nov. 25, UAA also features the GNAC individual leaders in scoring (Safiyyah Yasin, 17.6), rebounding (Tennae Voliva, 10.6) and A/T ratio (Yasin, 4.8).
 
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 has been impressive thus far, helping UAA rank third nationally in assists and steals, and earning Most Outstanding Player of the Seawolf Hoops Classic ... in the early GNAC stats, the Bay Area product ranks 2nd in assists (5.8 apg, 26th nationally), 3rd in A/T ratio (3.3, 23rd nationally) and 5th in steals (2.5 spg) ... on UAA's career lists, Goo continues to rise the charts at 5th in assists (349), 7th in assists per game (4.0), 6th in steals (219), 9th in steals per game (2.5), 11th in FTs made (244), 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 five games, leading the GNAC with 17.6 ppg on shooting numbers of .537 FG, .478 3FG and .792 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 1st in A/T ratio (4.8, 9th nationally), 9th in assists per game (3.8), t-3rd in steals per game (2.8), 7th in FG%, 9th in FT% and 8th 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) has taken her game to the next level, averaging a double-double with 13.2 ppg and a GNAC-leading 10.6 rpg ... in the GNAC stats, she currently ranks 12th in scoring, 2nd in blocks (1.8 bpg) and FG% (.585), 3rd in steals (2.8) and 11th in FT% (.783) ... with her first three career double-doubles in the opening four 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 and all-tourney at the Seawolf Hoops 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 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals thus far, while shooting .452 (14 of 31) from long 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, tallying 11 points (3-7 3FG) and 2 steals in the win over S.F. State, and adding 13 points (4-7 3FG) to spark the win over UW-Parkside ... 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 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 195-34 (.852) at UAA and 209-47 (.816) 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)
Seawolf Hoops Classic Most Outstanding Player
NICOLE PINCKNEY
D2 West Coast Classic All-Tournament Team
TENNAE VOLIVA
D2 West Coast Classic Most Outstanding Player
Seawolf Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team
SAFIYYAH YASIN
Preseason All-GNAC Team
D2 West Coast Classic All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team