THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
NCAA Division II West Regional Championships
at Pioneer Gymnasium – Hayward, Calif.
(times listed as Alaska Standard/Daylight Time)
Friday, March 11 (Quarterfinals)
11 am: #6 Alaska Anchorage (20-6) vs #3 Western Washington (20-5)
1:30 pm: #7 Northwest Nazarene (18-9) vs #2 Central Washington (23-7)
4 pm: #5 Azusa Pacific (24-3) vs #4 Cal State San Marcos (22-3)
6:30 pm: #8 Academy of Art (18-10) vs #1 Cal State East Bay (22-2)
Saturday, March 12 (Semifinals)
4 pm: UAA/WWU winner vs NNU/CWU winner
6:30 pm: APU/CSUSM winner vs Art/CSUEB winner
Monday, March 14 (Title Game)
6 pm: Semifinal winners
 
LIVE VIDEO: ccaanetwork.com
 
LIVE STATS: eastbaypioneers.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. (7.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.2 spg, .340 3FG, .676 FT)
G—Jahnna Hajdukovich, 5-8, Jr. (7.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, .382 3FG, .778 FT)
F—Lauren Johnson, 5-7, Sr. (7.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.0 spg, .328 3FG, .857 FT)
F—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, Fr. (7.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.7 spg, .368 3FG, .633 FT)
C—Tennae Voliva, 6-0, Sr. (12.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.2 spg, .480 FG, .846 FT)
 
THE WEST WILL (FINALLY) BE WON: For the first time since 2019, the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships will return to its normal eight-team format, with teams from the GNAC, CCAA and Pac West conferences playing for a trip to the Elite Eight, Mar. 21-25 in Birmingham, Ala. ... the 2020 tournament was canceled, while the 2021 event was combined with another regional due to low pandemic-season participation in the West ... this year's tournament will be a battle of familiar foes on the bottom half of the bracket, with all four teams representing the GNAC ... UAA's No. 6 seed marks its lowest since being the No. 8
 
SEAWOLF NCAA HISTORY: The Seawolves have earned their 20th overall NCAA Tournament qualification ('86, '88, '89, '92, '94, '00, '07, '08, '09, '10, '11, '12, '14, '15, '16, '17, '18, '19, '20, '22) this year ... UAA stands 26-18 all-time in NCAA games after going 2-1 in 2019 ... UAA was the No. 2 seed and ranked 4th nationally when the 2020 tournament was canceled due to Covid ... UAA is 20-8 in West Region play since 2007, suffering four of those losses to No. 1 seeds (and eventual regional champions) on their home courts (Cal Poly Pomona, '11 & '14; Seattle Pacific, '10; UCSD, '07) … the Seawolves have won four regional titles (2008, 2009, 2012, 2016) ... UAA made its first appearance in the NCAA Div. II national title game in 2016 after bowing out in the national semifinals in 2008 and 2009 ... UAA improved to 12-6 in NCAA openers and earned its fourth straight first-round win with its 76-69 victory over HPU in 2019 ... the Seawolves improved to 7-8 all-time in the Round of 32 with their 2019 win over Northwest Nazarene ... UAA is 4-3 in the Sweet 16 (regional finals), falling to Azusa Pacific in 2019.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: GNAC regular-season champion Western Washington has suffered all five of its losses in league play, with three coming in overtime and the other two against GNAC Tourney champ Central Washington ... ranked 24th (media) and 25th (coaches) in the national polls, the Vikings are led by First Team All-GNAC forward Emma Duff (15.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.9 apg, .340 3FG, .835 FT) and So. F Brooke Walling (8.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.2 spg, .731 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs. WWU: UAA leads 28-26 overall, 5-1 on neutral courts
Streak: WWU 2
Last: WWU 63-50 (2/19/22 at WWU)
Notes: WWU has taken three of the last five meetings, following an 8-game UAA win streak ... teams have played 27 times since Jan. 2011, including five meetings in the GNAC Tournament finals (all UAA wins) ... this will be the third NCAA Tournament meeting, with WWU winning (78-58) in the second round in 2000, and UAA winning (55-48) in the first round in 2011; both previous NCAA meetings took place at Cal Poly Pomona ... UAA leads 21-19 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) and 14-7 under head coach Ryan
McCarthy ... WWU won the first seven meetings in series history, which began Feb. 13, 1997.
 
GNAC TOURNEY RECAP: The Seawolves returned to the semifinal round of the GNAC Tournament for the sixth consecutive time but could get no further, falling to eventual champion Central Washington 80-65 on Friday in Lacey, Wash. ... 2nd-seeded UAA started with a 57-50 quarterfinal victory over 7th-seeded Seattle Pacific in a true road game Thursday, led by 13 points and 7 rebounds from Jr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich ... Fr. G Jazzpher Evans chipped in 10 points and Sr. C Tennae Voliva had 10 rebounds and tied her career high and the tourney record with 6 steals, helping UAA beat SPU for the third time on its home court this season ... on Friday, Voliva had 20 points (6-10 FG, 8-8 FT) and a career-high 6 assists, but the Seawolves could never recover from a game-opening 12-0 run by CWU ... Evans added 13 points and 4 steals as UAA's 19-game winning streak against the Wildcats came to a halt.
 
WINNING WAYS: Prior to falling 0.04 ranking points shy of this year's top seed, UAA's run of six straight GNAC regular-season titles was the longest of any program – women's or men's – since the league was founded in 2001-02 ... at 208-23 (.900), the Seawolves have the second-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) ... UAA's 24-game win streak from Jan. 25, 2020 to Dec. 14, 2021 had been the longest in NCAA Div. II and finished two short of tying the school record set by the 2016-17 club ... the 12 straight road wins finished as the third-longest string in program history ...UAA's Jan. 17 loss to MSU Billings ended school-record win streaks of 33 straight home games and 41 straight regular-season conference home games ... 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 25 wins for six straight seasons (excluding 2020-21) 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 clinched its 16th consecutive winning record and its 14th 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 lead the GNAC stats in steals (12.3 spg) and turnover margin (+6.15), and rank second or third in six other categories ... of 297 teams nationally, UAA ranks top-50 in steals (13th), turnover margin (13th), turnovers forced (20th, 21.9) and assists (45th, 15.2 apg) ... the Seawolves are attempting 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.
 
TENNAE-CIOUS V: A unanimous Preseason All-GNAC selection, Sr. F/C Tennae Voliva proved the prognosticators correct, earning unanimous First Team All-GNAC honors with team-high averages in points (12.7 ppg, 9th in GNAC), rebounds (7.0 rpg, 7th), steals (2.2 spg, 3rd), blocks (0.7 bpg, 12th), FG% (.480, 11th) and FT% (.846, 2nd) ... with double-figure scoring in 15 of 16 GNAC games and a 17.6 ppg average in February, she improved her league numbers to 14.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg, .503 FG and .846 FT ... the East Anchorage HS product owns six double-doubles this year and 12 for her career, and she earned GNAC Player of the Week honors for Feb. 7-13 ... on UAA's career lists, Voliva stands 8th in rebounds (647), 20th in scoring (901 pts), 7th in blocks (79), 12th in blocks per game (0.6), 10th in steals (169), 11th in FT made (255), 7th in games played (126), 18th in FG% (.487) and 5th in victories, sporting a 110-16 record in Green & Gold ... a four-time Academic All-GNAC honoree with a 3.89 undergrad GPA, Voliva recently repeated as as CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree and is a candidate for Academic All-America with a 4.00 graduate GPA in clinical psychology.
 
'WOLF BITES: Sr. F Sala Langi has continued her under-the-radar solid play in her final season, ranking among the Seawolves' leaders in scoring (7.0 ppg), rebounding (2.8 rpg), assists (1.7 apg), steals (1.5 spg, 14th in GNAC) and FT% (.759) ... a part of four straight NCAA Tournament berths alongside Voliva, Langi holds UAA career ranks of 30th in scoring (801 pts), 17th in steals (148), 9th games played (124) and 7th in victories (109). ...  Jr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich has risen to 3rd the GNAC with a .382 3FG%, along with ranks of 7th in 3FGs per game (1.6) and 11th 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 has moved into the 9th place on UAA's career 3FGs made list with 116, along with ranks of 13th in 3FGs per game (1.25) and 15th in 3FG% (.359) ... Jr. PG Nicole Pinckney has taken her game to the next level in fifth season with the program ... the former Chugiak High star is 8th in the GNAC with 3.2 assists per game, 4th in assist-turnover ratio (1.8), 12th in 3FG% (.340) and 14th in 3FGs per game (1.3), draining 5 of 10 treys for a career-high 21 points in the win at Northwest Nazarene ... 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 wins over Hillsdale and UT Permian Basin ... So. G Rachel Ingram drained at least one three pointer in 13 of the last 15 regular-season games, ranking top 10 in the GNAC-only stats with a .351 3FG% and 1.8 3FGs per game ... in less than two full seasons, the Colorado native has moved onto UAA's career top-20 lists in 3FGs made (13th, 111), 3FG% (18th, .350) and 3FGs per game (5th, 1.9) ... other Seawolves among the GNAC stats leaders include Fr. G Jazzpher Evans at 8th in steals (1.7 spg) and Jr. F Kimani Fernandez at 12th in offensive rebounding (2.0 orpg) ... Sr. Lauren Johnson has scored at least five points in 17 of the last 19 games, matching a season-high 14 to power UAA's comeback victory at Central Washington on Feb. 21 ... in two seasons since transferring from North Dakota State College of Science, Johnson has proven one of the best shooters in UAA history, ranking 13th in 3FG% (.362) and 20th in FT% (.736).
 
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 .824 ... 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 ... 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 244-42 (.853) at UAA and 258-55 (.824) 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).
 
2021-22 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
KIMANI FERNANDEZ
GNAC All-Academic Team
JAHNNA HAJDUKOVICH
GNAC All-Academic Team
Seawolf Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team
RACHEL INGRAM
GNAC All-Academic Team
STEPHANIE JACKSON
GNAC All-Academic Team
SALA LANGI
Preseason All-GNAC Team
NICOLE PINCKNEY
GNAC All-Academic Team
Seawolf Hoops Classic Most Outstanding Player
TENNAE VOLIVA
First Team All-GNAC
CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Team
GNAC Player of the Week, Feb. 7-13
GNAC All-Academic Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2021-22
INDIVIDUAL
Game
Most 3FGs Made, 2nd Half — 7 by Rachel Ingram at Montana State Billings, 1/27 (old record: 6 by Jenna Buchanan vs Cal St. Dominguez Hills, 10/31/15; by Jackie Thiel vs Kuyper, 1/3/09; and by Ingram at Warner Pacific, 3/23/21)
Most 3FGs Made, Half — 7 by Rachel Ingram at Montana State Billings, 1/27 (ties record by Maria Nilsson vs Saint Martin's [1st half], 2/3/07)
TEAM
Game
Largest Halftime Deficit Overcome (road) — 11 (34-45) at Central Washington, Feb. 21 (ties record [22-33] set at Northwest Nazarene, Jan. 30, 2010)
Most Points, 2nd Quarter — 31 at Hawaii Pacific, Dec. 14 (ties record set vs William Jewell, 10/30/15 at Anaheim)
Most Points, 2nd Quarter (road) — 31 at Hawaii Pacific, Dec. 14 (old record: 27, twice, last at Western Oregon, Jan. 5, 2017)
Fewest Points Allowed, 1st Quarter — 2 vs Winston-Salem State, Nov. 27 (old record: 4, four times)
Misc.
Consecutive Wins, Alaska Airlines Center – 33, 11/16/19 to 1/15/22 (old record: 16, 11/5/15 to 2/25/16)
Consecutive Conference Regular-Season Home Wins – 41, 11/30/16 to 1/15/22