THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Tue., Dec. 14 - The Shark Tank - Honolulu, Hawaii - 5:30 pm AST
#7/1 Alaska Anchorage (6-0, 1-0 GNAC) at Hawaii Pacific (4-4, 1-2 PWC)
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Fri., Dec. 17 - McCabe Gymnasium - Honolulu, Hawaii - 1:30 pm AST
#7/1 Alaska Anchorage vs Concord (6-3, 3-3 MEC [12/16 @HPU])
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Sun., Dec. 19 - Afook-Chinen Auditorium - Hilo, Hawaii - 2 pm AST
#7/1 Alaska Anchorage at Hawaii Hilo (4-2, 2-1 PWC)
 
LIVE VIDEO: Tuesday at portal.stretchinternet.com/hpusharks
                      Friday to be determined (check GoSeawolves.com on gameday)
                      Sunday to be announced (check GoSeawolves.com on gameday)
LIVE STATS: Tuesday at hpusharks.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
                      Friday to be determined (check GoSeawolves.com on gameday)
                      Sunday at hiloathletics.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. (10.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.7 spg, .481 FG, .400 3FG)
G—Jahnna Hajdukovich, 5-8, Jr. (10.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.3 apg, .389 FG, .361 3FG)
F—Sala Langi, 5-9, Sr. (6.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.2 spg, .457 FG, .692 FT)
F—Lauren Johnson, 5-7, Sr. (6.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, .467 FG, .500 3FG, 5-5 FT)
F—Tennae Voliva, 6-0, Sr. (9.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.0 apg, 2.5 spg, .429 FG, .769 FT)
 
NON-CONFERENCE FINALES: The Seawolves will take a final non-conference lap around the Hawaiian Islands this week, facing a pair of West Region foes and a challenging out-of-region D-II opponent ... UAA returns to GNAC play Dec. 30 for the remainder of the regular season.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: Traditional Pacific West Conference power Hawaii Pacific has dropped three of its last four games and gotten off to a 1-2 start to league play ... the Sharks have one common opponent, losing 62-53 at Saint Martin's on Nov. 13 ... HPU is led by Tavia Rowell (15.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, .353 3FG, .824 FT) and Amy Baum (12.6 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 6.6 apg, 2.1 spg) ... Concord, from Athens, W.Va., and the Mountain East Conference, snapped a two-game skid with a 78-47 win Sunday over Frostburg State ... the Mountain Lions, who will play at HPU on Thursday, are led by Riley Fitzwater (15.3 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 3.3 bpg, .709 FG) and Maggie Guynn (12.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, .361 3FG) ... off to one of its best starts since rebooting the program in the late 2000s, Hawaii Hilo is coming off impressive home wins over Pac West foes Point Loma (78-66) and HPU (73-50) ... the Vulcans are led by Mandi Kawaha (18.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 4.8 apg, .391 3FG, .815 FT) and Nikki Miller (11.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg, .492 FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs. HPU: UAA leads 10-0 overall, 5-0 in Honolulu
Last: UAA 76-69 (3/15/19 at La Jolla, Calif.)
Notes: Two of the last four meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament opening round, including the last contest ... UAA has not played at HPU since a 62-51 win at the outset of its NCAA Runner-up season, Nov. 17, 2015 ... teams met four times from Jan. 1984-Feb. 1985 and then did not play again until Dec. 2014.
 
vs. Concord: First meeting
 
vs. UHH: UAA leads 9-0 overall, 6-0 in Hilo
Last: UAA 59-47 (12/22/10 at UHH)
Notes: This will mark the sixth straight meeting in Hilo, all since Nov. 19, 2014 ... UAA has won each meeting by at least 11 points ... series started Dec. 21, 2007 with a 72-60 UAA win in Hilo.
 
RANKED SAINTS STIFLED: After a year off from GNAC competition, the Seawolves started defense of their six straight regular-season titles with a 66-58 road win over Saint Martin's last time out on Dec. 2 ... in a battle of the teams ranked No. 1 and No. 25 in the D2SIDA Top 25 poll, UAA got 15 points (5-9 FG, 3-3 3FG) and 3 steals from Jr. G Nicole Pinckney and 11 points (5-6 FT), 11 rebounds and 3 steals from Sr. C Tennae Voliva to avoid the upset ... the Seawolves also got 9 points apiece and a combined 9 rebounds from Jr. F Kimani Fernandez and Sr. G Stephanie Jackson as they forced 25 turnovers, and 10 of 11 players nabbed at least one steal.
 
WINNING WAYS: At 194-17 (.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 121-9 – including 55-5 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games over the last six conference seasons (since Dec. 2014) ... UAA's Alaska Airlines Center record winning streak stands at 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: The Seawolves lead the early GNAC stats in 10 categories and rank top-20 nationally in nine categories –  turnover margin (4th, +10.2), assists per game (6th, 18.3), assist/TO ratio (8th, 1.28), scoring margin (9th, +21.5), 3FG% defense (11th, .211), socring defense (15th, 52.3), FG% defense (15th, .331), turnovers forced (16th, 24.5) and steals per game (19th, 12.8) ... 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 9.3 ppg and GNAC ranks of 2nd in steals (2.5 spg) and 11th in rebounding (6.3 rpg) ... on UAA's career lists, Voliva stands 9th in blocks (64), 13th in blocks per game (0.6), 16th in rebounds (504), 18th in FG% (.485) and 12th in victories, sporting an 96-10 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, ranking fourth on the team in both scoring (6.8 ppg) and rebounding (3.2 rpg), and tied for second in assists (2.0 apg) ... the Seawolves' active career scoring leader with 661 points, Langi joined Voliva on this year's Preseason All-GNAC Team ...  Jr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich ranks 18th in scoring (10.2 ppg) 10th in 3FG% (.361) and 3rd in 3FGs per game (2.2) 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 87 treys, 1.19 per game and a .349 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 is 3rd in the GNAC with 4.3 assists per game, and she ranks only behind teammate Stephanie Jackson in assist-turnover ratio (3.0 and 2.6) ... Pinckney also ranks 16th in scoring (10.8 ppg), 8th in 3FGs per game (1.7), 9th in steals (1.7 spg) and 13th in 3FG% (.381) ... 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 ... among other GNAC stats leaders, Jr. G/F Lauren Johnson is 2nd with a .500 3FG%, and So. G Ra'Anaa Bey (1.8 spg) and Jr. F Kimani Fernandez (1.7 spg) rank 4th and 9th respectively in steals.
 
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 .833 ... 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 230-36 (.865) at UAA and 244-49 (.833) 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 last week moved to No. 7 in the WBCA top 25 coaches' poll and remained No. 1 in the D2SIDA (sports information directors) national rankings ... this marks the Seawolves' 100th 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 84 of those weeks in the top 10.
 
WBCA/USA Today NCAA Div. II
Top 25 Coaches' Poll - Dec. 7, 2021
UAA & opponents in bold; West Region teams in italics
Rk Team [1st-place votes]       Rec.  Pts  Last
 1 Fort Hays State (KS) [20]    7-0   567  1
 2 Lubbock Christian (TX) [2]   8-1   532  2
 3 Drury (MO)                  10-1   501  3
 4 North Georgia [1]            6-0   498  4
 5 Texas A&M Commerce           6-0   493  5
 6 Lander (SC)                  6-1   460  6
 7 ALASKA ANCHORAGE             6-0   427  8
 8 Glenville State (WV)         7-0   397  9
 9 Indiana, Pa.                 8-0   376  10
10 Ashland (OH)                 8-0   347  11
11 Western Washington           7-0   315  14
12 Azusa Pacific (CA)           6-1   310  12
Other West Region teams receiving votes: None.
 
D2SIDA NCAA Div. II Top 25 Media Poll - Dec. 7, 2021
UAA & opponents in bold; West Region teams in italics
Rk Team [1st-place votes]       Rec.  Pts  Last
 1 ALASKA ANCHORAGE [9]         6-0   375  1
 2 Fort Hays State (KS) [4]     7-0   372  2
 3 Texas A&M Commerce           6-0   369  3
 4 Drury (MO) [3]              10-1   360  4
 5 Lander (SC)                  5-1   336  5
 6 Lubbock Christian (TX)       8-1   333  6
 7 North Georgia                6-0   297  7
 8 Indiana, Pa.                 8-0   278  10
 9 Western Washington           7-0   249  11
10 Ashland (OH)                 6-1   247  16
23 Cal State East Bay           7-1    50  NR
Other West Region teams receiving votes: 29) Azusa Pacific 19.
 
D2SIDA West Region Media Poll - Dec. 13, 2021
 Rk  Team (1st-pl. votes)  Rec. Pts  Last
  1 Alaska Anchorage (5)   6-0  59   1
  2 Western Washington (1) 7-0  53   2
  3 Cal State East Bay     8-1  44   3
  4 Azusa Pacific          7-1  41   4
  5 Stanislaus State       9-1  35   6
  6 Saint Martin's         6-2  27   5
  7 Cal State San Marcos   6-2  25   7
  8 Northwest Nazarene     6-3  19   RV
  9 Central Washington     5-4  11   9
 10 Biola                  6-3   8   10
 
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)
Misc.
Consecutive Wins, Alaska Airlines Center – 32, 11/16/19-current (old record: 16, 11/5/15-2/25/16)