This Week in Alaska Anchorage Women's Basketball...
 
Tue., Jan. 14, 7 pm AST — Patty Center — Fairbanks, Alaska
#7 Alaska Anchorage (16-1, 5-0 GNAC) at Alaska Fairbanks (6-9, 1-5 GNAC)
&
Sat., Jan. 18, 7 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
Montana State Billings (8-7, 3-3 GNAC [1/16 @UAF]) at #7 Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: gnac.tv
 
LIVE STATS: gnac.tv Tuesday ... goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/wbball Saturday.
 
UAA HOME TICKETS: AlaskaAirlinesCenter.com
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAWBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS
G—Yazmeen Goo, 5-10, Sr. (10.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.3 apg, 2.0 spg, .539 FG, .671 FT)
G—Safiyyah Yasin, 5-6, Sr. (14.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.5 spg, .440 FG, .406 3FG, .782 FT)
G—Nicole Pinckney, 5-5, So. (5.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.2 apg)
F—Sala Langi, 5-9, Jr. (5.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 spg, .452 FG, .870 FT)
F—Tennae Voliva, 6-0, Jr. (9.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.1 bpg, 2.4 spg, .481 FG, .684 FT)
 
FROZEN NORTH: The Seawolves stay in the nation's coldest state all week as they face their traditional rivals, traveling north to Alaska Fairbanks on Tuesday and returning to Anchorage on Saturday to face Montana State Billings ... UAA will get a rare Thursday off, with UAF hosting MSUB on Thursday night.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Alaska Fairbanks got off to a 6-4 start, earning its lone GNAC win with a 81-76 OT victory over Western Oregon, before beginning its current 5-game losing skid ... the Nanooks are led by Jocelyn Gandara (18.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.6 apg, .370 3FG, .733 FT) and Sam Tolliver (15.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, .340 3FG) ... Montana State Billings has recovered to get above the .500 mark after an 0-4 start, earning its GNAC wins at Simon Fraser, at home against Central Washington and at Concordia ... the Yellowjackets are led by Hannah Collins (14.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, .446 3FG, .720 FT) and Taryn Shelley (11.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg, .429 FG, .707 FT).
 
THE SERIES
vs. UAF: UAA leads 70-30 overall, 26-23 in Fairbanks
Streak: UAA 24
Last: UAA 88-43 (2/5/19 at UAF)
Notes: UAA's current win streak is the longest in the series and the
Seawolves' 2nd-longest against any program, trailing only the current 32-game streak vs. Western Oregon … the Seawolves have won 12 straight in Fairbanks … UAF's last win was an 85-83 overtime decision, Jan. 27, 2007 in Fairbanks ... UAA has won 11 straight and 23 of the last 24 meetings by double digits ... UAA leads 29-7 in GNAC meetings (since 2001-02) and 14-0 under Ryan McCarthy … teams have played at least twice per season since 1979-80.
 
vs. MSUB: UAA leads 36-27 overall, 20-11 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 2
Last: UAA 72-57 (2/9/19 at MSUB)
Notes: UAA has won 23 of 26 overall meetings since MSUB joined the GNAC in 2007-08 ... UAA has won five straight in Billings ... UAA leads 22-2 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 13-3 under Ryan McCarthy ... MSUB is UAA's 3rd-most common opponent (behind UAF and Seattle Pacific), despite splitting into different leagues from 2002-07 … teams played twice yearly from 1984-85 to 2000-01 as members of the Pacific West and Continental Divide conferences.
 
STREAKS CONTINUE: The Seawolves stretched their streaks to 11 overall and 25 straight GNAC wins by knocking off GNAC presason favorite Central Washington, 68-51, and defending GNAC Tournament champ Northwest Nazarene, 73-58, last week at the Alaska Airlines Center ... on Thursday, Sr. G Safiyyah Yasin scored a game-high 15 points and the Seawolves' six turnovers tied for the third-fewest in program history as they pulled away in the final six minutes to beat CWU for the 15th straight time ... Jr. G Lauren Johnson scored a career-high 10 points (4-6 FG, 2-3 3FG) and dished 2 assists, So. G Jahnna Hajdukovich had 10 points (3-6 3FG) and 3 assists, and Sr. PG Yazmeen Goo tallied 8 points, 5 assists and no turnovers as UAA won dsepite being outrebounded 36-29 ... on Saturday, Jr. C Tennae Voliva notched 19 points (8-12 FG), a career-high-tying 12 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals, helping the Seawolves stop NNU's 8-game winning streak to take sole possession of first place in the GNAC ... Yasin ­– who earned her first GNAC Player of the Week honor – scored 18 points and dished 4 assists, while Goo had 9 points, 4 assists and 4 steals against the region's 6th-ranked team.
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA is within one game of tying its longest conference winning streak ever, a 26-game string from Nov. 30, 2016 to Jan. 18, 2018 ... at 170-16 (.914), the Seawolves have the second-best winning percentage and second-most victories in NCAA Div. II since 2014-15, trailing Ashland (172-15, .920) for those honors ... UAA is a combined 105-8 – including 47-4 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games over the last six seasons (since Dec. 2014) ... UAA has stretched its Alaska Airlines Center win streak to a record 22 games, suffering its last home loss to Seattle Pacific in the 2018 GNAC Tournament semifinals ... the Seawolves have won 34 consecutive GNAC regular-season home contests, including 10-0 marks the previous three seasons ... UAA has gone a combined 190-16 (.923) in the last 13 seasons on its home courts, including 81-6 (.931) 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 57 of their last 59 regular-season games against Div. II non-conference opponents ... UAA has already clinched the program's 14th consecutive winning season and is seeking its 13th NCAA Tournament berth in 14 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 20 in seven categories ­– 5th in scoring margin (+24.3), 6th in turnover margin (+9.2) and steals per game (13.9), 8th in scoring defense (52.0), 15th in A/T ratio (1.24), 16th in turnovers forced per game (22.9) and 20th in assists per game (16.9) ... in the GNAC stats, the Seawolves lead in seven of the 21 categories, and rank second in six 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 10 nationally in steals, turnover margin and scoring defense ... in the GNAC stats, the Bay Area product ranks 3rd in assists (4.2 apg) and A/T ratio (1.9), and 5th in FG% (.539) and steals (2.0 spg), despite logging a modest 22.4 minutes per game in UAA's balanced system ... on UAA's career lists, Goo continues to rise the charts at 5th in assists (394), 10th in assists per game (4.0), 5th in steals (241), 12th in steals per game (2.4), 8th in FTs made (280), 13th in FTs made per game (2.8), 18th in FG% (.488) and 12th in victories (88).
 
YASIN HER LATELY: Another Preseason All-GNAC selection and the latest GNAC Player of the Week, Sr. G Safiyyah Yasin (suf-FEE-yuh ya-SEEN) is wreaking havoc on opposing defenses, ranking 5th in the GNAC with 14.6 ppg on shooting numbers of .440 FG, .406 3FG and .782 FT ... a key reserve in all 33 games last year, the Diablo Valley (Calif.) College transfer has topped the 20-point plateau three times – including a career-high 25 points in the win over S.F. State – and has scored double figures in eight straight games ... in addition to her scoring, Yasin also holds GNAC ranks of 2nd in steals (2.5 spg, 55th nationally), 9th in A/T ratio (1.6), 9th in 3FG%, 10th in FT% and 18th in FG%, scoring double figures in 14 of 16 games ... now with the qualfying 1.5 seasons under her belt, Yasin premieres this week on UAA's career lists at 10th in FT% (.777) and 11th in 3FG% (.379).
 
T.V. SHOW: 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 9.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 1.1 bpg ... in the GNAC stats, she ranks 2nd in rebounding, 10th in blocks, 4th in steals (2.4) and 15th in FG% (.481) ... with a GNAC career-best 19 points and a career-high-tying 12 rebounds in the win over NNU last week, the former East Anchorage HS star earned her fourth double-double ... Voliva has established career highs in points (20 vs. S.F. State), rebounds (12, three times), 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 both FG% (.492) and blocks (48), and 14th in blocks per game (0.6).
 
PAW PRINTS: Fr. G Rachel Ingram has drained multiple three-pointers in eight of 17 games thus far, putting her on pace to shatter the UAA freshman record of 36 (Jessica Madison, 2012-13) ... the Colorado Springs native ranks 12th in the GNAC with her .383 3FG% ... Ingram has already set the UAA single-game freshman record with seven 3FGs made in the win over Concordia-Portland ... a transfer from Santa Fe (Fla.) College, Jr. G Stephanie Jackson has made an impact in her first season on both sides of the court, ranking 14th in the league with 2.6 assists per game and 11th with 1.6 steals per contest ... Jr. F Sala Langi tallied double figures for the third time this season with her 12 points the win at Saint Martin's ... at 20 of 23 (.890) from the free throw line thus far, Langi is on pace to break the UAA single-season record of .883, set last year by Hannah Wandersee ... head coach Ryan McCarthy announced this week that the Seawolves' 4th-leading scorer, Jr. G Kedranea' Addison, is academically ineligible and will not play for the remainder of the season; to bolster the Seawolves' guard rotation, Fr. G Sierra Tate has been activated from redshirt status.
 
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 (.821) 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 staying among the top 10 in steals each year since ... McCarthy sports head-coaching records of 206-35 (.854) at UAA and 218-48 (.821) 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.
 
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
GNAC Player of the Week, Jan. 6-12