THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Sun., Nov. 6 – Noon AST – Alumni Pavilion – Riverside, Calif.
Alaska Anchorage (0-0) at La Sierra (0-0 [one game pending])
 
LIVE VIDEO: portal.stretchinternet.com/lasierra ($7.95)
LIVE STATS: None
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAWBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2021-22 stats)
G—Nicole Pinckney, 5-5, Sr. (7.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.1 spg, .333 3FG, .667 FT)
G—Jahnna Hajdukovich, 5-8, Sr. (7.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, .378 3FG, .737 FT)
G—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, So. (7.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.7 spg, .35 3FG, .633 FT)
F—Vishe' Rabb, 5-9, Sr. (12.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.6 spg at Augustana, S.D.)
F—Kate Robertson, 6-2, So. (11.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, .500 FG at Casper [Wyo.] College)
 
FOR OPENERS: The last team out of the NCAA Div. II top 25 in both national polls, Alaska Anchorage gets its 2022-23 season under way this week with a non-conference game against NAIA foe La Sierra in Riverside, Calif. ... the Seawolves have won their last nine season openers, with the last loss coming in Ryan McCarthy's first game as head coach in Nov. 2012 (80-74 vs Colorado Mines).
 
2022-23 SEASON PREVIEW: With three returning starters and an infusion of talented newcomers, the Seawolves are looking to get back to the top of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, which they won six straight times from 2015 to 2020 ... picked second in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll, UAA features five seniors with experience in a Seawolf uniform, led by 5th- and 6th-year standouts Jahnna Hajdukovich (7.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, .378 3FG), Nicole Pinckney (7.6 ppg, 3.2 apg) and Kimani Fernandez (4.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .525 FG) ... Sr. G Rachel Ingram (5.8 ppg) brings a sharp-shooting three-point touch, while fellow Sr. G Ra'Anaa Bey also bolsters the backcourt ... So. G Jazzpher Evans (7.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg) is the other returning starter, with So. G Malie Marfil and So. G/F Tubby Tovia bring playing experience from last year ... King Cove native Elaina Mack also returns after playing briefly in the Covid campaign and redshirting last year ... five big-time transfers also join the lineup, including Sr. G Vishe' Rabb, who was a second-team all-conference selection last year at fellow D-II program Augustana (S.D.), and D-I transfers Hayley Berfield (High Point) and Anaiah Moore (Milwaukee) ... So. F Kate Robertson comes north after an impressive JC career at her hometown Casper (Wyo.) College, and So. C Natalia Beaumont is expected to make a major impact once she returns from off-season surgery.
 
2021-22 SEASON RECAP: UAA continued its winning ways in 2021-22, going 20-7 overall and missing its seventh straight GNAC titles by just fractions of a point, despite a 12-4 league mark ... the Seawolves advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth straight time and reached the 20-win plateau for the seventh full season in a row, earning huge wins over Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene along the way ... Sr. C Tennae Voliva was UAA's floor leader, earning First Team All-GNAC, all-region and honorable mention All-America awards.
 
WINNING WAYS: Prior to falling 0.04 ranking points shy of this last year's crown, UAA's run of six straight GNAC regular-season titles was the longest of any basketball program – women's or men's – since the league was founded in 2001-02 ... at 208-24 (.897), the Seawolves have the third-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 133-14 – including 63-7 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games over the last seven conference seasons (since Dec. 2014) ... the Seawolves have gone a combined 204-18 (.919) in the last 15 seasons on their home courts, including 95-8 (.922) 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 has recorded 20 wins for seven straight seasons (excluding 2020-21, when they played just three games) and has now produced 17 20-win seasons in 45 years of program history ... the Seawolves have won 63 of their last 66 regular-season games against Div. II non-conference opponents ... UAA has posted 16 consecutive winning records and earned 14 NCAA Tournament appearance in its last 15 full seasons ... the Seawolves have won six of the 11 GNAC Tournament titles since the event started in 2011.
 
NIFTY NUMBERS: The Seawolves led the 2021-22 GNAC stats in steals (12.3 spg), turnover margin (+6.15) and offensive rebounding pct. (.353), while ranking second or third in five other categories ... of 295 teams nationally, UAA ranked top-50 in steals (13th), turnover margin (13th), turnovers forced (21st, 21.6) and assists (45th, 15.2 apg) ... the Seawolves just missed to finishing 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: UAA's leading returning scorer (7.7 ppg) and second-leading returning rebounder (3.7 rpg), Sr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich ranked 3rd the GNAC with a .378 3FG% last season, along with ranks of 7th in 3FGs per game (1.6) and 9th in A/T ratio (1.4) ... in November, Hajdukovich tied the second-most treys in Seawolf history with eight against UT Permian Basin, and she knocked down the game-winner at the buzzer to beat Western Oregon on Feb. 24 ... the former Dimond High star begins her final season 9th on UAA's career 3FGs made list with 116, along with ranks of 13th in 3FGs per game (1.23) and 15th in 3FG% (.358) ... Sr. G Nicole Pinckney becomes the longest tenured player in program history this year – her sixth in the Green & Gold ... the former Chugiak High star was 8th in the GNAC last season with 3.2 assists per game, 4th in assist-turnover ratio (1.8), 11th in 3FG% (.333) and 16th in 3FGs per game (1.2) ... Pinckney begins 2022-23 at 17th on UAA's career 3FG list with 87 treys and 18th in victories with 80 ... Sr. G Rachel Ingram drained at least one three pointer in 13 of the last 15 regular-season games last winter, ranking top 10 in the GNAC-only stats with a .351 3FG% and 1.8 3FGs per game ... in two seasons, the Colorado native has moved onto UAA's career top-20 lists in 3FGs made (13th, 111), 3FG% (18th, .349) and 3FGs per game (5th, 1.9) ... other Seawolves among the GNAC stats leaders in 2021-22 included So. G Jazzpher Evans at 6th in steals (1.7 spg) and Sr. F Kimani Fernandez at 11th in offensive rebounding (2.0 orpg).
 
MASTER OF MAYHEM: Now in his 11th season at UAA and 12th overall, Ryan McCarthy currently stands No. 4 among active NCAA Div. II coaches in career winning percentage at .822 ... 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) between 2015-20, four GNAC Tournament titles, eight straight NCAA Tournament berths (discounting the 2020-21 non-season), 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 six seasons, and 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 244-43 (.850) at UAA and 258-56 (.822) overall, having served in an interim capacity at Northwest Nazarene in 2010-11 … McCarthy is assisted by 11th-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 (2nd season).
 
2022-23 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
JAHNNA HAJDUKOVICH
Preseason All-GNAC Team
VISHE' RABB
Preseason All-GNAC Team