THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...

Sun., Nov. 5 – 1 pm AST – Stoller Center – Forest Grove, Ore.
Alaska Anchorage (0-0) at Pacific University (0-0)

LIVE VIDEO: team1sports.com/pacificuniversity/?bfplayvid=726939

LIVE STATS: stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=492287

UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2022-23 stats)
G—Senya Rabouin, 5-5, Jr. (16.3 ppg, First Team All-ACCAC at Central Arizona)
G—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, So. (9.4 apg, 2.4 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.8 spg, .433 FG)
F—Jaisa Gamble, 6-0, Jr. (9.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.3 apg, 3.2 spg at Laney College)
F—Kate Robertson, 6-2, So. (6.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.1 spg, .491 FG)
C—Tori Hollingshead, 6-3, Jr. (17.2 ppg, 12.8 rpg, 2.4 bpg, First Team All-NWAC at Umpqua)

FOR OPENERS: The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team opens its 2023-24 season Sunday (1 pm AST) with a road game against NCAA Div. III foe Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. ... the contest will count for the Seawolves but will be an exhibition for the Boxers.

BRIEF SEASON PREVIEW: Picked third in the GNAC coaches' poll, the Seawolves return three starters and another key letterwinner from a squad that finished 18-10 overall and 10-8 in GNAC play last year, including All-GNAC Preseason Team selections Vishe' Rabb and Jazzpher Evans ... UAA adds seven talented transfers as it aims for its seventh regular-season league title since 2015.

2022-23 RECAP: UAA posted another solid campaign in 2022-23, going 18-10 overall and finishing fourth place in the GNAC with a 10-8 mark ... although the Seawolves missed the NCAA Tournament in a non-pandemic season for the first time 2012-13, they still posted several impressive victories, including discretionary exhibition wins over Div. I programs UC Riverside and La Salle to win the ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout in November, plus a 65-58 road upset of No. 22 MSU Billings in the regular-season finale ... Jr. F Vishe' Rabb was voted First Team All-GNAC and the league's Newcomer of the Year, while Sr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich captured honorable mention All-GNAC accolades.

THE SERIES: UAA leads 2-0 overall, 1-0 at Pacific
Last: UAA 62-57 (4/8/21 at Pacific)
Notes: The last meeting was one of just three games that UAA played during the 2020-21 pandemic season ... the Seawolves took the first meeting, 85-39, in the Alaska Airlines Center's inaugural season on Dec. 20, 2014.

GNAC TOURNEY RECAP: The Seawolves continued their streak of never missing a GNAC Tournament, but 5th-seeded Seattle Pacific rallied in the second half to edge UAA 69-65 in the 2023 GNAC quarterfinals in Bellingham, Wash., on Mar. 2 ... then-Jr. F Vishe' Rabb had team highs of 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals before suffering a serious knee injury in the final minutes, while Sr. G Rachel Ingram tallied 12 points (4-5 3FG) in her final game as a Seawolf.

SEAWOLVES BY THE NUMBERS: The 2022-23 Seawolves ranked top 20 in five NCAA Div. II national stats categories – A/T ratio (7th, 1.25), turnover margin (9th, +7.5), fewest turnovers per game (13th, 12.9), assists per game (17th, 16.1) and steals per game (20th, 11.4) ... they were also 29th in 3FGs per game (7.8), 35th in turnovers forced per game (20.4) and 48th in offensive rebounds per game (13.4) ... UAA led the GNAC stats in TO margin, steals and offensive rebounding, while ranking 2nd in A/T ratio and 3FG/gm, and 3rd in four other categories.

RABB REHABBING: A transfer from fellow Div. II program Augustana (S.D.), Jr. F Vishe' Rabb made a huge impact in her new uniform last year, earning GNAC Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-GNAC honors ... prior to tearing her ACL in the final game of the year, Rabb paced UAA in scoring in 16 of her 26 appearances, while leading the way in rebounding 13 times ... a two-time GNAC Player of the Week and the ASRC/Great Alaska Shootout Most Outstanding Player, the Minnesota native scored double figures all but four times and grabbed at least five rebounds in all but three contests ... Rabb ranked 5th in the GNAC stats in scoring with 16.8 ppg, along with 8th in rebounding (6.3 rpg), 4th in steals (2.0) and 1st in FT% (.879, No. 2 on UAA's single-season list) ... after suffering through a midseason slump, Rabb finished on a hot streak, posting four 25-plus scoring efforts in the last seven games (22.7 ppg, 49-51 FT) and her third double-double in the win over Saint Martin's (25 pts/10 rebs) ... the Minnesota native is expected to return to the Seawolf lineup in December after finishing her rehabilitation.

RETURNERS READY: UAA's third-leading scorer with 9.4 ppg, So. G Jazzpher Evans finished the regular season with six double-figure efforts in the last 10 games, including 14 points (6-10 FG) in the 64-54 victory at Seattle Pacific ... the Chicago native and Quincy University transfer recorded multiple field goals in all but one game this season and had 17 multi-steal games, ranking 6th in the GNAC with 1.8 spg ... So. F Kate Robertson made a strong debut with 6.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg (10th GNAC) and 1.1 spg, while shooting .491 (7th GNAC) from the field ... the Casper (Wyo.) College transfer had her first double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds against HPU, and she ranked 4th in the GNAC in offensive rebounding with 2.6 orpg ... Robertson finished the year with a seven-game streak of .500-plus shooting, connecting on 23 of her final 34 shots (.676) ... after the Covid year and a redshirt campaign, So. G Elaina Mack finally debuted for real in 2022-23, and ranked 11th in the GNAC in 3FG% at .369.

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN: The team's success this year depend largely on the play of seven transfers from the junior college ranks, all of whom carry junior eligibility ... a point guard with the ability to score herself, Senya Rabouin comes north after three years at Central Arizona College, where she ranked second in the ACCAC with 16.3 points per game last season ... Rabouin's JC teammate, Mia Ross, should provide another offensive jolt, having scored double figures in 21 of 30 games for the Vacqueras last year ... another pair of former teammates join the Green & Gold in Laney (Calif.) College products Kya Pearson and Jaisa Gamble ... Pearson was the 2022-23 Bay View Conference MVP as the 5-8 combo guard averaged 11.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.3 steals and 1.5 blocks, while Gamble averaged 9.1 ppg on 51 percent shooting and should utilize her lanky, 6-foot frame to become one of the top defenders in the GNAC ... Ja'Niah Alexander brings the lone NCAA Div. I experience to this year's team, having played as a true freshman at Alabama A&M ... the 5-10 playmaker was a Second Team All-Southern Conference performer at Indian River (Fla.) State College last year ... the Seawolves' tallest player should make an outsized impact as well, with 6-3 center Tori Hollingshead coming north from Umpqua (Ore.) College ... the Orem, Utah, native was the leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker on UAA's foreign tour to Taiwan this summer, following  NWAC South Defensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore at Umpqua ... a 5-10 wing, Nessa Walsh adds a versatile skill set to the lineup after leading NJCAA Div. II nationally with 8.0 assists per game and ranking second in steals with 4.8 per game last season at Oakton (Ill.) College.

WINNING WAYS: UAA is a combined 143-23 – including 67-12 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games over the last eight conference seasons (since Dec. 2014) ... the Seawolves have gone a combined 214-21 (.911) in the last 16 seasons on their home courts, including 105-11 (.905) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... UAA is 32-0 all-time against NCAA Div. II non-conference opponents at the Alaska Airlines Center in the regular season ... 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 ... 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 fell two victories shy of its eighth straight 20-win season (excluding 2020-21, when they played just three games); the Seawolves have produced 17 20-win seasons in 46 years of program history ... the Seawolves have won 67 of their last 70 regular-season games against Div. II non-conference opponents ... UAA has posted 16 consecutive winning records and earned 14 NCAA Tournament appearances in its last 16 full seasons ... the Seawolves have never failed to qualify for the GNAC Tournament, winning six of the 12 titles since the event started in 2011.

MASTER OF MAYHEM: Entering his 12th season at UAA and 13th overall as head coach in 2022-23, Ryan McCarthy still stands among the top five active NCAA Div. II coaches in career winning percentage at .807 ... 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 through 2021-22 ... McCarthy sports head-coaching records of 262-53 (.832) at UAA and 276-66 (.807) overall, having served in an interim capacity at Northwest Nazarene in 2010-11 … McCarthy is assisted in 2023-24 by 12th-year associate head coach Shaina Afoa (the 2017-18 WBCA NCAA Div. II National Assistant Coach of the Year) and former UAA men's assistant Jalon McCullough (1st season).