This week we take a look at all four squads in the 2023 ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout. Our final team preview is the host University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves.

Alaska Anchorage Seawolves
After a rare miss of the NCAA Tournament and a fourth-place Great Northwest Athletic conference finish, the Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team is eager to reestablish itself as one of the premier programs in NCAA Div. II in 2023-24.

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. Head coach Ryan McCarthy adds seven talented transfers as UAA aims for its seventh regular-season league title since 2015.

A 1,000-point career scorer between her time at Augustana (S.D.) and UAA, Rabb is coming off First Team All-GNAC and GNAC Newcomer of the Year honors in 2022-23. The 5-9 wing averaged 16.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals and shot a league-best .879 from the free-throw line, nailing 49 of her last 51 charities. Rabb should rejoin the lineup some time in December, following a full recovery from March ACL surgery.

A 5-6 guard, Evans was the third-leading scorer for a UAA a year ago, averaging 9.4 points, 2.2 assists, and ranking among the GNAC leaders with 1.8 steals per game. The Chicago native posted double figures 10 times as a sophomore, including 17 points to power a road win over Simon Fraser.

The final returning starter is 6-2 junior forward Kate Robertson, who posted 6.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and shot a team-best .491 from the field. The Casper (Wyo.) College transfer recorded GNAC top-10 ranks in three categories, including fourth in offensive rebounds per game (2.6).

UAA will get another boost from fourth-year sophomore guard Elaina Mack, who shot .369 from long range in her first full collegiate season, while producing the team's lowest turnover rate.

All seven transfers come from the junior college ranks and 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. Her 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 Bay View Conference MVP last year 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.

UAA QUICK FACTS
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Enrollment: 10,000
Founded: 1977
Nickname: Seawolves
Colors: Green & Gold
Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Arena: Alaska Airlines Center (5,000)
Web Site: GoSeawolves.com
Athletic Director: Ryan Swartwood
Head Coach: Ryan McCarthy
   Record at UAA: 262-53, 12 seasons
   Overall Record: 276-66, 13 seasons
Associate Head Coach: Shaina Afoa
Assistant Coach: Jalon McCullough
2022-23 Record: 18-10
2022-23 Conf. Record: 10-8 (4th)
2022 Postseason: GNAC Tourney qtrfnls
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 4/9
Newcomers: 7

TOP RETURNEES (PPG, RPG, OTHER)
Vishe' Rabb (16.8, 6.3, .879 FT)
Jazzpher Evans (9.4, 2.4, 1.8 spg)
Kate Robertson (6.5, 6.0, .491 FG)