THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Fri., Dec. 8 – 7 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Clarion (0-6, 0-2 PSAC) at Alaska Anchorage (2-5, 0-2 GNAC)
&
Sun., Dec. 10 – 2 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Clarion at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: Both games free at youtube.com/uaaseawolves
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/wbball
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Senya Rabouin, 5-5, Jr. (13.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.9 spg, .390 3FG, .833 FT)
G—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, Jr. (13.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.9 spg, .458 FG)
G—Elaina Mack, So. (8.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, .435 FG, .463 3FG)
G—Ja'Niah Alexander, 5-10, Jr. (2.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F—Kate Robertson, 6-2, Jr. (7.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.2 spg, .483 FG, .875 FT)
 
CLARION COMES A-CALLIN': The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team tries to snap a rare four-game losing skid when it hosts non-conference opponent Clarion for a pair of games at the Alaska Airlines Center, Friday at 7 pm and Sunday at 2 pm ... these will mark the first meetings between UAA and Clarion in any team sport.
 
EYEING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Seeking their first wins of the year, Clarion comes north for the first time after suffering an 82-71 loss at Mansfield and an 81-79 last-second loss at Bloomsburg in its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference openers last week ... located about 75 miles north of Pittsburgh, the Golden Eagles are led by 5-8 So. G Hannah Wilkerson (13.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, .515 FG) and Sr. G Sadre'a Rougeau (10.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.5 spg, .538 FG, .500 3FG).
 
NO LUCK IN LEAGUE OPENERS: The Seawolves got off to their first 0-2 start in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play since 2004-05 with road setbacks at No. 17 Montana State Billings (83-68) and Seattle Pacific (62-59) last week ... in the first game, Jr. PG Senya Rabouin scored a UAA season-high 27 points (10-23 FG, 4-11 3FG), but the Seawolves could not take advantage of a 30-13 lead after one quarter against the GNAC preseason poll favorites ... Jr. G Jazzpher Evans had 12 points and a career-high 6 assists in 39 minutes, while Jr. C Tori Hollingshead had 10 points (5-8 FG), 7 rebounds and a UAA season-best 4 blocks ... at SPU, the Seawolves dug all the way out of a 17-point first-half hole to take the lead twice in the fourth quarter, only to see the hosts end on a 10-5 run ... Rabouin scored 17 points (6-12 FG, 2-7 3FG) and So. G Elaina Mack delivered 12 points (4-8 3FG) in the second half to spur the comeback, but the Falcons won the rebounding battle 36-24 and outscored UAA 18-9 in second-chance points.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA's four-game losing skid is the longest since dropping seven straight from Jan. 7-28, 2006 ... the Seawolves' four one-possession losses mark the first time that has happened since the 2007-08 squad suffered four of its five losses that year by three points or fewer ... the Seawolves lead the GNAC in steals per game (11.3) and rank second in turnover margin (+0.86) and offensive rebounding percentage (.348).
 
'WOLF BITES: UAA's third-leading scorer a year ago, Jr. G Jazzpher Evans ranks 11th in the GNAC with 13.0 points per game ... the Chicago native tied 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 topped that with 21 points 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 ... Jr. C Tori Hollingshead has made a major impact since transferring from Umpqua (Ore.) CC, ranking among the early GNAC stats leaders in scoring (15th, 12.7 ppg), rebounding (9th, 7.1 rpg), blocks (3rd, 1.7), steals (14th, 1.4 spg) and FG% (3rd, .621) ... 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 ... 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 assists and at least one steal in all seven games ... the Arizona native has averaged 21.0 ppg over the last three contests, moving up in the GNAC stats to 8th in scoring (13.6 ppg), 4th in assists (3.7 apg), 4th in steals (1.9 spg), 7th in FT% (.833), 8th in 3FG% (.390) and 6th in 3FGs per game (2.3) ... other Seawolves among the GNAC stats leaders are Jr. G Kya Pearson (4th, 1.9 spg; 14th, 2.8 apg), Jr. G Jazzpher Evans (4th, 1.9 spg), and So. G Elaina Mack (1st, 2.7 3FG per game; 2nd, .475 3FG%) ... Mack has nailed at least one three-pointer in all seven games, including a 5-of-6 (17 pts) effort in the win at Hawaii Pacific, and 5 of 10 in the first game against 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 143-25 – including 67-14 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games over the last nine 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 262-58 (.819) at UAA and 276-71 (.795) 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