THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thur., Feb. 16 – 7:30 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Saint Martin's (8-14, 4-10 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (14-9, 6-8 GNAC)
&
Sat., Feb. 18 – 5:15 pm AST – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Western Oregon (10-12, 4-10 GNAC [Thu. @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: Both games free at youtube.com/@UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAWBB Twitter feed for in-game updates.
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2022-23 stats)
G—Nicole Pinckney, 5-5, Sr. (5.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.7/1 A/T ratio)
G—Jahnna Hajdukovich, 5-8, Sr. (11.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.1 spg, .364 3FG)
G—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, So. (9.4 apg, 2.5 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.8 spg, .417 FG)
F—Vishe' Rabb, 5-9, Jr. (15.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.4 apg, 2.1 spg, .839 FT)
F—Kate Robertson, 6-2, So. (6.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.1 spg, .463 FG)
 
CRUNCH TIME: In seventh place in the GNAC standings, the Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team faces must-win situations this week in its 2022-23 home finales, hosting Saint Martin's on Thursday (7:30 pm) and Western Oregon on Saturday (5:15 pm) at the Alaska Airlines Center ... with four regular-season games left, the Seawolves are in need of victories to qualify for the GNAC Tournament (Mar. 2-4 in Bellingham, Wash.), which features the top six finishers in the 10-team league.
 
SENIOR SEND-OFF: Saturday's pregame will feature 'Senior Night' ceremonies to honor the team's five departing seniors, who have combined for 23 seasons in Green & Gold ... Nicole Pinckney is the lone 6th-year player in program history, while Jahnna Hajdukovich and Kimani Fernandez are both 5-year performers, alongside Rachel Ingram (4 years) and Ra'Anaa Bey (3 years).
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Still mathematically alive for a GNAC Tourney berth, Saint Martin's snapped a three-game losing skid with a 77-57 win over Simon Fraser and an impressive 67-62 loss to No. 8 Western Washington in Lacey ... currently tied for eighth in the league standings, the Saints are led by Anjel Galbraith (14.9 ppg, 5.4 apg, 2.6 spg) and Kiana Rios (12.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .354 3FG, .849 FT) ... Western Oregon enters Thursday's game at UAF in the same position as SMU, looking to stay alive in the GNAC Tourney hunt ... coming off home losses to WWU and SFU, the Wolves are led by Cali McClave (15.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 2.3 spg, .800 FT) and Princy Paaluhi-Caulk (13.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.6 spg, .824 FT).
 
ALL-TIME SERIES...
vs. SMU: UAA leads 34-16 overall, 18-6 in Anchorage
Streak: SMU 1
Last: SMU 66-65 (1/14/23 at UAA)
Notes: SMU's win last month in Lacey snapped a 13-game UAA streak ... teams met only once last year due to Covid, meaning Thursday will mark 1,180 days since the last game in Anchorage, a 59-56 UAA win on Jan. 30, 2020 ... UAA leads 6-0 at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in 2014-15 ... UAA leads 27-13 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 15-4 under Ryan McCarthy … teams have played at least once per season since 1997-98.
 
vs. WOU: UAA leads 40-8 overall, 20-5 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 36
Last: UAA 69-61 (1/19/23 at WOU)
Notes: The 36-game win streak is UAA's longest against any opponent in any sport ... UAA has won the last three by single digits, after taking 19 of the previous 20 by double figures … the Seawolves have won 17 straight in Anchorage (7-0 at the Alaska Airlines Center), including 66-65 on Jahnna Hajdukovich's buzzer-beating three-pointer last year ... WOU's last win came by a 64-58 score on Dec. 6, 2003 in Anchorage … UAA leads 36-5 in GNAC matchups (since 2001-02) and 19-0 under head coach Ryan McCarthy … teams have played each season since 1998-99 ... first meetings were in 1979-80.
 
RARE ROAD WHIFF: The Seawolves suffered their first winless GNAC two-game road trip since Jan. 23 & 25, 2014 (at WWU & SFU) last week with losses at Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington ... in the first contest, Jr. F Vishe' Rabb equaled the 7th-best mark on UAA's single-game scoring list with 35 points (9-21 FG, 3-10 3FG, 14-15 FT), but the Seawolves could not hold a 14-point second-half lead in a 78-75 overtime loss to the Nighthawks ... Sr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich added 13 points (5-10 FG) and 8 rebounds, and Sr. F Kimani Fernandez had 10 points (3-5 FG, 4-5 FT) and 5 rebounds as UAA settled for a split of the season series with NNU ... on Saturday, So. G Jazzpher Evans had 16 points (5-9 FG), but regionally 8th-ranked CWU rolled behind another huge game from All-America center Samantha Bowman, 87-56 ... Rabb scored 11 points (5-10 FG) and Hajdukovich and So. F Kate Robertson had 10 points apiece in the loss.
 
SEAWOLVES BY THE NUMBERS: The Seawolves rank top 35 in eight NCAA Div. II national stats categories, including top-10 marks in A/T ratio (5th, 1.32), turnover margin (5th, 8.74) and fewest turnovers per game (12.5) ... UAA is also 17th in steals (11.9 spg), 19th in assists (16.5 apg), 25th in turnovers forced per game (21.3), 33rd in offensive rebounds per game (14.3) and 34th in 3FGs per game (7.9) ... UAA leads the GNAC stats in TO margin, A/T ratio, steals and offensive rebounding, while ranking 3rd in 3FGs and assists per game.
 
'WOLF BITES: A second-team All-NSIC performer last season at Augustana (S.D.), Jr. F Vishe' Rabb has made a huge impact thus far, pacing UAA in scoring in 11 of her 21 games and leading the way in rebounding eight times ... the GNAC Player of the Week for her play against Biola and the ASRC/Great Alaska Shootout Most Outstanding Player, the Minnesota native has scored double figures all but four times and grabbed at least five rebounds in 18 of 21 contests ... Rabb ranks 5th in the GNAC stats in scoring with 15.4 ppg, along with 9th in rebounding (6.0 rpg), 5th in steals (2.1) and 5th in FT% (.839) ... a preseason All-GNAC pick along with Rabb, Sr. G Jahnna Hajdukovich is UAA's second-leading scorer with 11.1 ppg, and third-leading rebounder at 4.7 rpg ... the former Dimond High star has hit at least one trey in 21 of 23 games, including an impressive 8-of-13 display in the wins over William Jewell and a 7-of-9 showing at Western Oregon ... Hajdukovich has risen to GNAC ranks of 18th in scoring, 8th in 3FGs per game (2.1) and 11th in 3FG% (.364), while on UAA's career lists the second-generation Seawolf now ranks 34th in scoring (771 pts), t-6th in 3FGs made (164), 12th in 3FGs per game (1.4), 15th in 3FG% (.360), 13th in games played (117) and 14th in victories (96) ... Sr. G Nicole Pinckney becomes the longest tenured player in program history this year – her sixth in the Green & Gold ... the former Chugiak High star leads the GNAC and ranks 6th nationally with a 2.7 A/T ratio, along with a league rank of 15th in assists (2.7 apg) ... Pinckney stands 16th on UAA's career list for 3FGs (105), 14th in games played (116) and 15th in victories (94) ... So. F Kate Robertson has made a strong debut with 6.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg (8th GNAC) and 1.1 spg, while shooting .463 (9th GNAC) from the field ... the Casper (Wyo.) College transfer had her first double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds against HPU, and she currently ranks 3rd in the GNAC in offensive rebounding with 2.9 orpg ... Sr. G Rachel Ingram's 5-of-11 display against Biola on Nov. 26 marked her 11th career game with at least four treys, resulting in a season-high 17 points ... the Colorado native ranks 15th in the GNAC with 1.4 3FGs/gm, while on UAA's career top-20 lists she stands 10th in 3FGs/gm (1.7) and 8th in 3FGs made (141) ... So. G Jazzpher Evans tallied double figures for the fourth time in five games with 16 points at Central Washington on Saturday ... the Chicago native and Quincy University transfer has recorded multiple field goals in all but one game this season and had 14 multi-steal games, ranking 6th in the GNAC with 1.8 spg ... UAA got a major piece of its lineup in January when Sr. F Kimani Fernandez returned from a preseason foot injury ... a key reserve on UAA's NCAA Tournament squads in 2019, 2020 and 2022, the Hawaii native ranks 19th on UAA's career FG% list at .474 and is 33rd in total rebounds with 384 ... other Seawolves among the GNAC stats leaders include Fr. G Elaina Mack at 9th in 3FG% (.383), and Jr. G Anaiah Moore at 16th in assists (2.7 apg), 5th in A/T ratio (1.9) and 18th in steals (1.3 spg).
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA is a combined 139-22 – including 65-12 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 212-21 (.910) in the last 16 seasons on their home courts, including 103-11 (.904) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... the wins over William Jewell made UAA 32-0 all-time against NCAA Div. II non-conference opponents at the Alaska Airlines Center in the regular season ... prior to falling 0.04 ranking points shy of last year's crown, 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 has recorded 20 wins for seven straight seasons (excluding 2020-21, when they played just three games) and has produced 17 20-win seasons in 45 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 15 full seasons ... the Seawolves have won six of the 11 GNAC Tournament titles since the event started in 2011.
 
MASTER OF MAYHEM: Now in his 11th season at UAA and 12th overall, Ryan McCarthy currently stands among active the top five 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 since ... McCarthy sports head-coaching records of 258-52 (.832) at UAA and 272-65 (.807) overall, having served in an interim capacity at Northwest Nazarene in 2010-11 … McCarthy is assisted by 11th-year associate head coach Shaina Afoa (the 2017-18 WBCA NCAA Div. II National Assistant Coach of the Year) and former Seawolf great Kiki Robertson (2nd season).
 
2022-23 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
JAHNNA HAJDUKOVICH
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
NICOLE PINCKNEY
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team
VISHE' RABB
GNAC Player of the Week, Nov. 21-27
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout Most Outstanding Player
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2022-23
TEAM
Game
Most 3FGs Made — 16 vs Biola, Nov. 26 (ties record set vs Alaska Fairbanks, 2/11/20 and at Warner Pacific, 3/23/21)
Most 3FGs Attempted — 43 at La Sierra, Nov. 6 & at Bethesda, Dec. 19 (old record: 40 vs Kuyper College, 1/3/09 & at St. Andrews, 10/29/19)
Most Steals, Road Game — 28 at Bethesda, Dec.19 (old record of 25 at BYU-Hawaii [11/19/13] also broken at La Sierra on Nov. 6)