THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout
Alaska Airlines Center (5,000) - Anchorage, Alaska
(All times Alaska Standard)
Saturday, Nov. 18 - First Round
5:15 pm: UAB (2-0) vs Eastern Kentucky (3-0 [one game pending])
7:30 pm: #4 Utah (2-1) vs Alaska Anchorage (2-1)
Sunday, Nov. 19
5:15 pm: UAB/EKU loser vs Utah/UAA loser (3rd place)
7:30 pm: UAB/EKU winner vs Utah/UAA winner (champ.)
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: All games free at youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/wbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Senya Rabouin, 5-5, Jr. (8.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.0 spg, .429 3FG)
G—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, So. (15.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.7 spg, .529 FG)
G—Kya Pearson, 5-8, Jr. (5.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.0 apg, 3.0 spg)
F—Kate Robertson, 6-2, So. (7.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.3 spg)
F—Jaisa Gamble, 6-0, Jr. (2.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.7 spg)
 
SHOOTOUT ON TAP: The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team aims  to defend its ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout title this week with contests against a pair of NCAA Div. I teams in the 40th edition of the storied women's basketball tournament ... UAA opens on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against No. 4 Utah, and will face either Eastern Kentucky or UAB in Sunday's final round.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Defending Pac-12 champion and No. 4-ranked Utah comes north hungry for a win after Tuesday's 84-77 setback against No. 21 Baylor ... the Utes are led by reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year and Anchorage (Dimond HS) native Alissa Pili (22.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.0 bpg, .828 FG, 4-7 3FG) and fellow All-America candidate Gianna Kneepkens (17.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 4.7 apg, .571 FG, .579 3FG, .818 FT) ... Eastern Kentucky takes a 3-0 mark into Wednesday's game at Evansville, before traveling to the Shootout for the first time since 2002 ... the Colonels, from Richmond, Ky., and the Atlantic Sun Conference, are led by Preseason ASUN Player of the Year Antwainette Walker (14.0 ppg, .667 FG) and Sr. G Alice Recanti (20.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.3 apg, 2.3 spg, .511 FG) ... UAB has opened with home victories over Alabama A&M and Western Carolina as the Blazers hit the road for the first time in 2023-24 this week ... the American Athletic Conference squad is led by So. G Mia Moore (22.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, .739 FG, .900 FT) and So. F Tracey Bershers (13.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, .462 3FG).
 
THE SERIES: UAA and Utah have not met in a regular-season game, although the Seawolves pulled perhaps the biggest exhibition victory in program history when they beat the Utes 67-61 on Nov. 5, 2014 in Salt Lake City ... UAA was led that night by Jenna Buchanan's 20 points and 5 assists ... the Seawolves are 0-1 against UAB, losing in the 1987 Shootout (then known as the Northern Lights Invitational) by a 83-78 score ... UAA beat Eastern Kentucky in the teams' lone meeting, 77-74, to earn third place in the 2002 Shootout at the Sullivan Arena.
 
KEEPING IT DISCRETIONARY: Both of UAA's games in the Shootout will be played under the NCAA's discretionary exhibition rule, which allows the contests to be counted for the Div. I opponent while being an exhibition for the Seawolves.
 
HAWAIIAN STYLIN': The Seawolves erased the bad taste from a season-opening upset loss at D-III foe Pacific (Ore.) by sweeping its NCAA Div. II competition last week at the GNAC/PacWest Crossover in Honolulu ... on Friday, Jr. C Tori Hollingshead delivered 20 points (9-11 FG), 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and So. G Elaina Mack burned the nets for 17 points (5-5 3FG, 2-2 FT) to power a 66-48 win over Hawaii Pacific ... Jr. G Jazzpher Evans had 13 points (5-10 FG), 4 rebounds and 3 steals, and Jr. G Mia Ross had a timely 5 points, 3 assists and one turnover to help UAA overcome major foul trouble ... on Saturday, Jr. F Kate Robertson scored a career-high 15 points (6-13 FG, 3-4 FT) and grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds in a 78-50 victory over Hawaii-Hilo ... Evans had 14 points (5-10 FG) on her way to tournament MVP honors, while Hollingshead made the all-tournament team after posting 8 points (3-4 FG) in the finale ... UAA also got major bench contributions from Ross (10 pts, 4 rebs) and fellow newcomer Jr. G Ja'Niah Alexander (10 pts, 3-3 FG, 3-4 FT, 4 rebs).
 
SEAWOLVES AT THE SHOOTOUT: In 1990, the Seawolves became the first Div. II women's team to win a tournament against all-Div. I competition, repeating their feat at the 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2017 and 2022 Shootouts ... the first title came when the tournament featured eight teams and was known as the Northern Lights Invitational; the subsequent championships have come under the current 4-team format … the Seawolves are 40-56 all-time in the Shootout and 20-20 (with a current 4-game win streak) since the current format began in 1999 ... the Seawolves own 38 regular-season wins against 34 different NCAA Div. I programs.
 
SHOOTOUT CHAMPS: The Seawolves earned their eighth ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout title with victories over UC Riverside and La Salle in 2022 ... in the first contest, Vishe' Rabb had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals on her way to tourney Most Outstanding Player honors, powering a 64-51 defeat of the Highlanders ... Kate Robertson added 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Sr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich had 9 points (4-5 FG) and 7 rebounds as UAA outshot UCR .460 to .352 ... in the title game, Hajdukovich and Rabb combined for 40 points (12-20 FG, 6-12 3FG, 10-11 FT), 15 rebounds and 5 assists as UAA built a 26-point advantage and held off the Explorers 88-75 ... Sr. PG Nicole Pinckney added 11 points (3-3 3FG) and 9 assists (with one turnover), joining Rabb and Hajdukovich on the all-tournament team.
 
ALL THAT JAZZ: UAA's third-leading scorer a year ago with 9.4 ppg, Jr. G Jazzpher Evans has continued her upward trajectory, pacing the team and ranking 9th in the GNAC with 15.7 points per game ... the Chicago native has scored at least 13 points and shot 50 percent from the floor in all three games, tying her career high from her Covid freshman season at Quincy with 20 points (8-14 FG, 4-4 FT) in the loss at Pacific ... Evans was named the MVP of last week's GNAC/PacWest Crossover after helping UAA to two wins in Honolulu with 13.5 ppg on .500 FG.
 
'HEAD OF THE CLASS: Jr. C Tori Hollingshead has made a major impact since transferring from Umpqua (Ore.) CC, ranking among the early GNAC stats leaders in scoring (12th, 13.7 ppg), rebounding (10th, 7.0 rpg), blocks (4th, 1.7), steals (3rd, 2.7 spg) and FG% (1st, .750), despite logging only 20 minutes per game thus far ... the Orem, Utah, product shot 9 of 11 and grabbed 9 rebounds to power the win over Hawaii Pacific last week, earning a spot on the GNAC/PacWest Crossover All-Tournament Team.
 
'WOLF BITES: So. G Elaina Mack came one three-pointer shy of tying UAA's school record of 6-of-6 3FG accuracy, finishing 5 of 5 and with 17 points last week at Hawaii Pacific ... Mack ranks 3rd in the early GNAC stats with a .538 3FG% and 6th in 3FGs per game (2.3) ... other Seawolves among the GNAC stats leaders include Jr. G Kya Pearson  in steals (2nd, 3.0 spg), Jr. PG Senya Rabouin in 3FG% (7th, .429) and 3FGs per game (7th, 2.0), and Jr. F Kate Robertson in offensive rebounds per game (6th, 2.7).
 
RABB REHABBING: A transfer from fellow Div. II program Augustana (S.D.), Sr. 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.
 
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 69 of their last 72 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 .806 ... 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 262-54 (.831) at UAA and 276-67 (.806) 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).
 
2023-24 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
JAZZPHER EVANS
GNAC/PacWest Crossover MVP
Preseason All-GNAC Team
TORI HOLLINGSHEAD
GNAC/PacWest Crossover All-Tournament Team
VISHE' RABB
Preseason All-GNAC Team