THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thur., Nov. 30 – 3:15 pm AST – Alterowitz Gymnasium – Billings, Mont.
Alaska Anchorage (2-3, 0-0 GNAC) at #17 Montana State Billings (6-2, 0-0 GNAC)
&
Sat., Dec. 2 – 1 pm AST – Royal Brougham Pavilion – Seattle, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific (1-5, 0-0 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/watch?v=YjChZvPB4ZE
                       Saturday at youtube.com/watch?v=SQBMT9rSZns
 
LIVE STATS: Thursday at msubsports.com/sidearmstats/wbball
                       Saturday at spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/wbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Senya Rabouin, 5-5, Jr. (10.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.8 spg, .435 3FG, .900 FT)
G—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, So. (14.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg, 2.0 spg, .481 FG)
G—Kya Pearson, 5-8, Jr. (6.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.4 spg)
F—Tori Hollingshead, 6-3, Jr. (15.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.6 spg, 1.4 bpg, .625 FG)
F—Jaisa Gamble, 6-0, Jr. (3.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.2 spg, .467 FG)
 
EARLY CONFERENCE SHOWDOWNS: The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team plays its annual early-season Great Northwest Athletic Conference openers this week when it travels to No. 17 Montana State Billings on Thursday and fellow traditional rival Seattle Pacific on Saturday ... UAA is 16-5 in GNAC openers and 11-10 in GNAC road openers since the league started play in 2001-02.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Ranked 17th in the WBCA Top 25 poll, Montana State Billings had its six-game winning streak snapped with a 75-71 road loss to Colorado Mines on Saturday ... picked atop the GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Yellowjackets are led by Kola Bad Bear (16.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, .538 FG) and Dyauni Boyce (14.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.3 spg, .414 3FG, .913 FT) ... Seattle Pacific has dropped four in a row as it prepares for Thursday's game against Alaska Fairbanks, earning its lone win against defending West Region champion Cal State Dominguez Hills (58-53) on Nov. 11 ... picked sixth in the preseason poll, the Falcons are led by Olivia Mayer (10.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.3 spg, .426 FG) and Schuyler Berry (9.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .488 FG, .789 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs MSUB: UAA leads 39-30 overall, 17-16 at MSUB
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 65-58 (2/25/23 at MSUB)
Notes: UAA's victory in the 2022-23 regular-season finale snapped a three-game MSUB streak ... UAA has won seven of its last eight at MSUB ... the last three games have been decided by exactly seven points ... UAA leads 25-5 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 16-6 under Ryan McCarthy ... MSUB is UAA's 3rd-most common opponent (behind UAF and SPU), despite splitting into different leagues from 2002-07 … teams played twice yearly from 1984-85 to 2000-01 as members of the PacWest and Continental Divide conferences.
 
vs SPU: UAA leads 38-37 overall, trails 22-14 at SPU
Streak: SPU 1
Last: SPU 69-65 (3/2/23 at WWU – GNAC quarterfinals)
Notes: UAA has won six straight in Seattle, including a 64-54 decision on Feb. 23, 2023 ... the Seawolves have won the last nine regular-season meetings ... UAA leads 21-19 in GNAC regular-season meetings, after SPU took the first 11 encounters … UAA leads 19-3 under head coach Ryan McCarthy ... SPU is UAA's 2nd-most common opponent, squaring off at least once per season (excluding 2020-21) since 1990-91 … series started in 1979-80.
 
GRIZZLIES SLASH SEAWOLVES: The Seawolves suffered a pair of heartbreaking one-point setbacks in their D-II home openers last week at the Alaska Airlines Center, falling 83-82 and 66-65 against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Adams State ... in the first game, Jr. G Jazzpher Evans scored a career-high 21 points (7-13 FG, 7-10 FT) and Jr. C Tori Hollingshead had 20 points (7-10 FG, 6-7 FT) and 9 rebounds, but the Grizzlies forced 26 turnovers and shot .492 from the field, getting a game-high 30 points from guard Harmanie Dominguez ... in the rematch, Jr. PG Senya Rabouin tallied 19 points (6-12 FG, 3-6 3FG, 4-4 FT) and Hollingshead had her first double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but 27 turnovers doomed the hosts again ... Jr. G Kya Pearson added 10 points and 5 rebounds, while Jr. F Jaisa Gamble had a career-high 9 points (4-4 FG) and 5 boards.
 
ALL THAT JAZZ: UAA's third-leading scorer a year ago, Jr. G Jazzpher Evans has continued her upward trajectory, ranking 8th in the GNAC with 14.4 points per game ... the Chicago native has scored at least 13 points and shot 50 percent from the floor in four of five 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, and topping this with 21 points last week against Adams State ... Evans was named the MVP of the 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 (7th, 15.4 ppg), rebounding (9th, 8.0 rpg), blocks (5th, 1.4), steals (10th, 1.6 spg) and FG% (3rd, .625) ... the Orem, Utah, product shot 9 of 13 and grabbed 9 rebounds to power the win over Hawaii Pacific, and she earned all-tournament spots at both the GNAC/PacWest Crossover and the ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout.
 
'WOLF BITES: Jr. PG Senya Rabouin has started to settling into her role since transferring from Central Arizona College, providing at least two field goals, one three-pointer, multiple rebounds, multiple assists and at least one steal in all five games ... coming off a career-high 19 points (6-12 FG, 3-6 3FG, 4-4 FT) against Adams State on Saturday, the Arizona native ranks 3rd in assists (4.0 apg), 8th in steals (1.8 spg), 3rd in FT% (.900) and 6th in 3FG% (.435) in the early GNAC stats, along with a team-best 1.5 A/T ratio ... other Seawolves among the GNAC stats leaders are Jr. G Kya Pearson (3rd, 2.4 spg), Jr. G Jazzpher Evans (4th, 2.0 spg), Jr. F Kate Robertson (8th, 2.8 offensive reb/gm) and So. G Elaina Mack (3rd, .483 3FG) ... Mack has nailed at least one three-pointer in all five games, including a 5-of-6 (17 pts) effort in the win at Hawaii Pacific, and 5 of 10 in Friday's loss to Adams State.
 
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 214-23 (.903) in the last 16-plus seasons on their home courts, including 105-13 (.890) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... UAA had been 32-0 all-time against NCAA Div. II non-conference opponents at the Alaska Airlines Center in the regular season prior to the losses to Adams State ... 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 74 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 262-56 (.825) at UAA and 276-69 (.801) 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
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team
GNAC/PacWest Crossover All-Tournament Team
VISHE' RABB
Preseason All-GNAC Team