THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thur., Dec. 2 - Marcus Pavilion - Lacey, Wash. - 4:15 pm AST
#8/1 Alaska Anchorage (5-0, 0-0 GNAC) at #25 Saint Martin's (5-1, 0-0 GNAC)
&
Sat., Dec. 4 - New P.E. Building - Monmouth, Ore. - 1 pm AST
#8/1 Alaska Anchorage at Western Oregon (3-3, 0-0 GNAC [12/2 vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/channel/UC0nnHgoQKxoWpIvmsFX71kQ
                       Saturday at youtube.com/wouwolves
LIVE STATS: Thursday at smusaints.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
                      Saturday at wouwolves.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAWBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2021-22 stats)
G—Nicole Pinckney, 5-5, Jr. (10.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.4 spg, .467 FG, .318 3FG)
G—Jahnna Hajdukovich, 5-8, Jr. (10.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.2 apg, .388 FG, .364 3FG)
F—Sala Langi, 5-9, Sr. (7.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, .519 FG, .692 FT)
F—Lauren Johnson, 5-7, Sr. (7.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.2 apg, .500 FG, .455 3FG, 5-5 FT)
F—Tennae Voliva, 6-0, Sr. (9.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.0 apg, 2.4 spg, .469 FG, .750 FT)
 
GNAC OPENERS ON TAP: With a 4-0 record against Div. II foes thus far, UAA takes a break from non-conference play to get an early start on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season this week at Saint Martin's and Western Oregon.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: Ranked No. 3 in the D2SIDA West Region poll, Saint Martin's started the season with five straight victories before falling 91-82 at Texas A&M International in its last game Nov. 25 ... the Saints are led by the GNAC's leading scorer, Jr. F Claire Dingus (19.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.0 spg, .478 FG, .879 FT), along with Sr. PG Tierney DeDonatis (10.5 ppg, 4.3 apg, .345 3FG) ... Western Oregon takes a 2-3 mark against Div. II foes into its GNAC opener Thursday against UAF, having beaten Chico State (68-60) and Sonoma State (81-56) in their lone two home games ... the Wolves are led by So. F Meadow Aragon (13.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.2 bpg, .620 FG, .789 FT) and Jr. PG Tresai McCarver (9.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.0 apg).
 
THE SERIES...
vs. SMU: UAA leads 33-15 overall, 14-9 in Lacey
Streak: UAA 12
Last: UAA 59-56 (1/30/20 at UAA)
Notes: The Seawolves have earned six straight season sweeps and have won 23 of the last 27 meetings overall, including 73-63 in the last meeting in Lacey, Jan. 4, 2020 ... UAA's 12-game winning streak is its 5th-longest against any opponent ... UAA has won six straight in Lacey ... SMU's last win came by a 58-48 count in the 2014 GNAC Tournament quarterfinals in Lacey ... UAA leads 26-12 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) and 14-3 under Ryan McCarthy … teams have played at least once per season since 1997-98 ... first meeting was a 74-67 SMU win in Tacoma, Dec. 4, 1992.
 
vs. WOU: UAA leads 37-8 overall, 18-3 in Monmouth
Streak: UAA 33
Last: UAA 76-48 (2/27/20 at WOU)
Notes: The current 33-game win streak is UAA's longest against any opponent in program history ... UAA has won 18 of the last 20
games by double digits … the Seawolves have won 17 straight in Monmouth ... WOU's last win came by a 64-58 score on Dec. 6, 2003 in Anchorage … UAA leads 33-5 in GNAC matchups and 16-0 under head coach Ryan McCarthy … teams have played each season since 1998-99 ... first meetings were in 1979-80.
 
RAMS OUT-TOUGHED: The Seawolves improved to 5-0 overall and ran their record homecourt winning streak to 32 games last week with a pair of victories over Winston-Salem State at the Alaska Airlines Center ... in the first game, Jr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich scored 14 points and snagged a career-high 4 steals, and So. G Rachel Ingram added 12 points to aid a 73-46 victory over the Rams ... Sr. F/C Tennae Voliva managed 8 points and 8 rebounds, and Jr. PG Nicole Pinckney dished a career-high 6 assists as 12 of the 13 Seawolves scored at least one field goal ... in the rematch, Pinckney and Sr. F Lauren Johnson scored 14 points apiece and UAA hung on for a 62-53 win despite an 11-0 game-ending run by the visitors from North Carolina ... Voliva added 11 points (3-5 FG, 5-6 FT) and 8 rebounds, and Ingram poured in 10 points as the Seawolves won despite shooting just 34 percent.
 
WINNING WAYS: At 193-17 (.919), the Seawolves have the best winning percentage and fourth-most victories in NCAA Div. II since 2014-15, despite playing only three games in 2020-21 ... UAA is a combined 120-9 – including 54-5 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games over the last six conference seasons (since Dec. 2014) ... UAA last week increased its Alaska Airlines Center record winning streak to 32 games, suffering its last home loss to Seattle Pacific in the 2018 GNAC Tournament semifinals ... the Seawolves have won 40 consecutive GNAC regular-season home contests, going unbeaten for the last four years ... UAA has gone a combined 200-16 (.926) in the last 15 seasons on its home courts, including 91-6 (.938) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... the 2019-20 Seawolves earned the program's fourth 30-win season in five years, starting with an NCAA Div. II-record 38 victories in 2015-16 ... UAA's run of six straight GNAC regular-season titles is the longest of any program – women's or men's – since the league was founded in 2001-02 ... UAA has recorded 25 wins for six straight seasons (excluding 2020-21) and has produced 16 20-win seasons in 44 years of program history ... the Seawolves have won 61 of their last 63 regular-season games against Div. II non-conference opponents ... UAA has posted 15 consecutive winning records and has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 13 of the past 14 seasons in which it has played a full season ... the Seawolves have won six of the 10 GNAC Tournament titles since the event started in 2011.
 
NIFTY NUMBERS: With every team playing at least two games now, the Seawolves lead the early GNAC stats in 10 categories, including scoring offense (75.4), scoring defense (51.2), scoing margin (+24.2), FG% defense (.322), 3FG% defense (.158), steals per game (11.4), assists per game (19.4), turnover margin (+10.0) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3) ... the Seawolves are attemping to finish top-10 nationally in steals for the eighth straight non-pandemic season in 2021-22, having led NCAA Div. II for four straight years from 2013-14 to 2016-17.
 
'WOLF BITES: A unanimous Preseason All-GNAC selection, Sr. F/C Tennae Voliva (t'NAY voh-LEE-vuh) has gotten off to a solid start with 9.0 ppg and GNAC ranks of 2nd in steals (2.4 spg) and 15th in rebounding (5.4 rpg) ... on UAA's career lists, Voliva stands 9th in blocks (63), 13th in blocks per game (0.6), 17th in rebounds (493), 18th in FG% (.489) and 12th in victories, sporting an 95-10 career record in Green & Gold ... a three-time Academic All-GNAC honoree with a 3.88 in psychology, Voliva was a CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree as a junior in 2019-20 ... Sr. F Sala Langi has continued her under-the-radar solid play to begin her final season, holding early GNAC ranks of 9th in FG% (.519) and assist-turnover ratio 91.8) ... the Seawolves' active career scoring leader with 657 points, Langi joined Voliva on this year's Preseason All-GNAC Team ...  Jr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich ranks 15th in scoring (10.8 ppg) 9th in 3FG% (.364) and 3rd in 3FGs per game (2.4) in the early GNAC stats, tying for the second-most treys in Seawolf history with her 8 against UTPB ... the former Dimond High star now ranks in the top 20 in all UAA career 3FG categories, with 86 treys, 1.19 per game and a .350 3FG% ... So. G Rachel Ingram drained multiple three-pointers in 18 of 33 games as a rookie, with her 61 treys easily surpassing UAA's old freshman record ... the Colorado Springs native is chasing Hajdukovich on UAA's career treys list, currently tied for 15th with 82 3FGs ... Jr. PG Nicole Pinckney has taken her game to the next level in fifth season with the program ... the former Chugiak High star leads the GNAC with 4.8 assists per game and a 3-to-1 A/T ratio, along with ranks of 20th in scoring (10.0 ppg), 8th in 3FGs per game (1.4), 16th in steals (1.4 spg) and 14th in 3FG% (.318) ... Pinckney was the Most Outstanding Player of the Nov. 19-20 Seawolf Hoops Classic, totaling 23 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals and just 2 turnovers in 52 minutes.
 
MASTER OF MAYHEM: In his 10th season at UAA and 11th as a head coach, Ryan McCarthy currently stands No. 3 among NCAA Div. II coaches in career winning percentage at .832 ... the winningest coach in UAA women's basketball history since coming north in 2012, McCarthy has led the Seawolf program to unprecedented heights, capturing six straight GNAC regular-season titles (five outright), four GNAC Tournament titles, seven 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 2019-20, McCarthy earned his fourth consecutive GNAC Coach of the Year honor and fifth in the last six 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 229-36 (.864) at UAA and 243-49 (.832) overall, having served in an interim capacity at Northwest Nazarene in 2010-11 … McCarthy is assisted in 2020-21 by 10th-year associate head coach Shaina Afoa (the 2017-18 WBCA NCAA Div. II National Assistant Coach of the Year) and former Seawolf great Kiki Robertson (1st season).
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS: UAA this week moved to No. 8 in the WBCA top 25 coaches' poll and remained No. 1 in the D2SIDA (sports information directors) national rankings ... this marks the Seawolves' 99th straight appearance in the WBCA poll (not including the pandemic season), starting with the rankings of Dec. 2, 2014 ... UAA has been no lower than No. 16 over the last WBCA 99 polls, spending 83 of those weeks in the top 10.
 
WBCA/USA Today NCAA Div. II
Top 25 Coaches' Poll - Nov. 30, 2021
UAA & opponents in bold; West Region teams in italics
Rk Team [1st-place votes]       Rec.  Pts  Last
 1 Fort Hays State (KS) [16]    5-0   522  1
 2 Lubbock Christian (TX) [4]   8-1   492  2
 3 Drury (MO)                   8-1   469  3
 4 North Georgia [2]            6-0   454  7
 5 Texas A&M Commerce           6-0   448  5
 6 Lander (SC)                  5-1   436  8
 7 Gannon (PA)                  4-0   378  9
 8 ALASKA ANCHORAGE             5-0   361  12
 9 Glenville State (WV)         4-0   330  14
10 Indiana, Pa.                 6-0   309  12
12 Azusa Pacific (CA)           4-1   283  11
14 Western Washington           5-0   180  13
Other West Region teams receiving votes: 33) Cal State San Marcos 12.
 
D2SIDA NCAA Div. II Top 25 Media Poll - Nov. 30, 2021
UAA & opponents in bold; West Region teams in italics
Rk Team [1st-place votes]       Rec.  Pts  Last
 1 ALASKA ANCHORAGE [11]        5-0   387  1
 2 Fort Hays State (KS) [2]     5-0   368  2
 3 Texas A&M Commerce           6-0   358  4
 4 Drury (MO) [1]               8-1   357  3
 5 Lander (SC) [1]              5-1   335  5
 6 Lubbock Christian (TX)       8-1   323  6
 7 North Georgia                6-0   295  7
 8 Lee (TN) [1]                 7-0   294  8
 9 Gannon (PA)                  4-0   272  10
10 Indiana, Pa.                 6-0   241  11
11 Western Washington           5-0   233  13
25 Saint Martin's (WA)          5-1    40  RV
Other West Region teams receiving votes: 28) Azusa Pacific 18.
 
D2SIDA West Region Media Poll - Nov. 29, 2021
 Rk  Team (1st-pl. votes)  Rec. Pts  Last
  1 Alaska Anchorage (5)   5-0  59   1
  2 Western Washington (1) 5-0  55   2
  3 Saint Martin's         5-1  39   4
  4 Azusa Pacific          4-1  37   3
  5 Cal State San Marcos   3-1  35   5
  6 Cal State East Bay     5-1  25   RV
  7 Stanislaus State       5-1  24   RV
  8 Hawaii Pacific         3-2  18   8
  9 Central Washington     4-2  13   10
 10 Northwest Nazarene     4-2  12   NR
 
2021-22 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
JAHNNA HAJDUKOVICH
Seawolf Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team
SALA LANGI
Preseason All-GNAC Team
NICOLE PINCKNEY
Seawolf Hoops Classic Most Outstanding Player
TENNAE VOLIVA
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2021-22
INDIVIDUAL
None
TEAM
Game
Fewest Points Allowed, 1st Quarter — 2 vs Winston-Salem State, Nov. 27 (old record: 4, four times)