This Week in Alaska Anchorage Women's Basketball...
 
Wed., Dec. 18, 1 pm AST — The Shark Tank — Honolulu, Hawaii
Menlo College (6-2) vs #12/15 Alaska Anchorage (9-1)
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Thu., Dec. 19, 7 pm AST — The Shark Tank — Honolulu, Hawaii
Northwest Missouri State (5-4) vs #12/15 Alaska Anchorage
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Sun., Dec. 22, 2 pm AST — Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium — Hilo, Hawaii
#12/15 Alaska Anchorage at Hawaii-Hilo (1-6)
 
LIVE VIDEO: Wednesday & Thursday at portal.stretchinternet.com/hpusharks ($7.95)
                      Sunday at portal.stretchinternet.com/hawaiihilo ($7.95)
 
LIVE STATS: Wednesday & Thursday at hpusharks.com/sidearmstats/wbball
                      Sunday at portal.stretchinternet.com/hawaiihilo
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAWBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS
G—Yazmeen Goo, 5-10, Sr. (10.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 4.4 apg, 2.1 spg, .537 FG, .727 FT)
G—Safiyyah Yasin, 5-6, Sr. (14.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.9 spg, .457 FG, .421 3FG, .800 FT)
G—Nicole Pinckney, 5-5, So. (7.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.2 spg, .347 FG, .311 3FG)
F—Sala Langi, 5-9, Jr. (6.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.3 spg, .450 FG, .857 FT)
F—Tennae Voliva, 6-0, Jr. (11.0 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.2 bpg, 2.4 spg, .488 FG, .743 FT)
 
ALOHA, NON-CONFERENCE: The Seawolves take a four-game winning streak to the Hawaiian Islands for their final three non-conference contests of the regular season ... on Wednesday and Thursday, UAA will play in the Malika Sport Tours Hoop N Surf Classic against NAIA foe Menlo Colllege and fellow Div. II opponent Northwest Missouri State ... the Classic will take place on Hawaii Pacific's new home court, The Shark Tank, formerly known as St. Francis High School ... UAA finishes its non-league slate Sunday with a standard road game at fellow NCAA Div. II West Region program Hawaii Hilo.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Ranked No. 24 in the latest NAIA Div. II poll, Menlo College has started 6-2, including 1-1 record against NCAA Div. II foes (L 89-59 @CSU East Bay, W 90-56 vs Holy Names) ... members of the Golden State Athletic Conference and located in Atherton, Calif., the Oaks are led by 6-1 Fr. F Kiara Brown (9.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg, .522 FG, .794 FT) and 6-2 Fr. C Courtney Perry (7.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, .500 FG) ... Northwest Missouri has rotated wins and losses all season thus far, starting Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association play recently with at 56-32 win at Lincoln and a 70-50 loss at Central Missouri ... from Maryville, Mo., the Bearcats are led by 5-6 Sr. G Kendey Eaton (15.8 ppg) and 6-0 Fr. F Jayna Green (5.3 rpg) ... Hawaii Hilo has lost six straight since winning its opening game against non-Div. II opponent Multnomah ... currently 0-4 in the Pacific West Conference, the Vulcans are led by Allie Navarette (13.0 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 841 FT) and Kim Schmelz (9.7 ppg, .316 3FG).
 
THE SERIES
vs. Menlo & NW Missouri: First meetings
 
vs. Hawaii Hilo: UAA leads 8-0 overall, 5-0 in Hilo
Last: UAA 71-60 (12-19-18 at UHH)
Notes: UAA has won each meeting by double figures, including six wins by 35 points or more ... first meeting was a 72-60 Seawolf victory, Dec. 21, 2007 in Hilo ... UAA is 25-0 against the three Hawaii D-II schools since they restarted their women's basketball programs in 2007-08.
 
STREAKS EXTENDED: The Seawolves began defense of their five straight GNAC regular-season titles last time out with home blowouts of Concordia-Portland (79-52) and Western Oregon (73-41) at the Alaska Airlines Center, extending three long winning streaks in the process ... on Dec. 5, Fr. G Rachel Ingram came off the bench to score 21 points (7-10 3FG) and break the UAA freshman record for 3FGs in a game, helping the Seawolves improve to 9-0 all-time against the Cavs ... Sr. G Yazmeen Goo had 11 points (6-6 FT), 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, while Jr. F Tennae Voliva tallied 13 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals as UAA forced 24 turnovers and shot a season-best .900 (18-20) from the FT line ... two days later, Sr. G Safiyyah Yasin delivered 21 points (7-12 FG, 3-5 3FG) and 3 steals to help UAA stretch its win streaks over WOU and GNAC regular-season home opponents to 32 apiece ... Goo scored a career-high 16 points (5-7 FG, 2-2 3FG) and dished 4 assists, while Jr. G Kedranea' Addison came off the bench with 8 points, 3 assists and no turnovers.
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA has stretched its Alaska Airlines Center win streak to a record 20 games, suffering its last home loss to Seattle Pacific in the 2018 GNAC Tournament semifinals ... at 163-16 (.911), the Seawolves have the second-best winning percentage and second-most victories in NCAA Div. II since 2014-15, trailing Ashland (164-15, .916) for those honors ... UAA is a combined 101-8 – including 45-4 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games over the last six seasons (since Dec. 2014) ... the Seawolves have won 32 consecutive GNAC regular-season home contests, posting 10-0 marks the last three seasons ... UAA has gone a combined 188-16 (.922) in the last 13 seasons on its home courts, including 79-6 (.929) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... 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 ... the Seawolves have won 55 of their last 57 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: UAA has assumed its familiar position among the NCAA Div. II national stats leaders, ranking among the top 25 in 10 categories ­– 5th in assists per game (19.1), scoring margin (+26.8) and turnover margin (+10.8), 6th in steals per game (15.2), 7th in A/T ratio (1.41), 12th in turnovers forced per game (24.3), 17th in scoring defense (53.6), 21st in 3FGs per game (9.1), and 25th in scoring offense (80.4) and fewest turnovers per game (13.5) ... in the GNAC stats, the Seawolves lead in eight of the 21 categories, and rank 2nd in five others.
 
GOO NEWS: 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 top 6 nationally steals and assists per game, and earning Most Outstanding Player of the Seawolf Hoops Classic ... in the GNAC stats, the Bay Area product ranks 3rd in assists (4.4 apg) and A/T ratio (2.2), 5th in FG% (.537) and 6th in steals (2.1 spg) ... on UAA's career lists, Goo continues to rise the charts at 5th in assists (366), 9th in assists per game (4.0), 6th in steals, 10th in steals per game (2.5), 8th in FTs made (263), 13th in FTs made per game (2.9), 18th in FG% (.474) and 13th in victories (81).
 
YASIN HER LATELY: Another Preseason All-GNAC selection, Sr. G Safiyyah Yasin (suf-FEE-yuh ya-SEEN) is wreaking havoc on opposing defenses, ranking 7th in the GNAC with 14.4 ppg on shooting numbers of .457 FG, .421 3FG and .800 FT ... a key reserve in all 33 games last year, the Diablo Valley (Calif.) College transfer has already topped her previous career high three times, scoring 22 points in the opener at St. Andrews, 25 points in the win over S.F. State and 21 points against Western Oregon ... in addition to her scoring, Yasin also holds GNAC ranks of 2nd in steals (2.9 spg, 36th nationally), 4th in A/T ratio (2.2), 6th in FT%, 11th in 3FG%, 16th in 3FGs per game (1.6) and 17th in FG% (.457).
 
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, nearly averaging a double-double with 11.0 ppg and 9.1 rpg ... in the GNAC stats, she ranks 2nd in rebounding, 19th in scoring, 7th in blocks (1.2 bpg), 4th in steals (2.4), 12th in FG% (.488) and 15th in FT% (.743), while leading the way with 6.9 defensive rebounds per game (36th nationally) ... 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 ... on UAA's career lists, the former East Anchorage HS star stands 15th in FG% (.496) and 18th in blocks (42).
 
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 7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals thus far, while draining 1.9 3FGs per game ... Jr. G Stephanie Jackson delivered her first double-figure scoring effort with 11 points in the win over Nova Southeastern, and the JC transfer is making an impact in the GNAC stats, ranking 8th in assists (3.1 apg), 12th in A/T ratio (1.4) and 7th in steals (2.0 spg) ... another JC transfer, Jr. G Kedranea' Addison has emerged as the team's 6th-leading scorer at 6.8 ppg, shooting .824 at the FT line and ranking 7th in the GNAC with a 1.6 A/T ratio.

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 (.816) 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 ... in 2018-19, McCarthy earned his third consecutive GNAC Coach of the Year honor and fourth in the last five seasons ... 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 199-35 (.850) at UAA and 213-48 (.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