THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thu., Jan. 18 – 6 pm AST – Nicholson Pavilion – Ellensburg, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage (9-5, 3-2 GNAC) at Central Washington (13-5, 4-2 GNAC)
&
Sat., Jan. 20 – 5 pm AST – Johnson Sports Center – Nampa, Idaho
Alaska Anchorage at Northwest Nazarene (6-7, 3-3 GNAC [1/18 vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/watch?v=b-ZqiLKV3sA
                       Saturday at youtube.com/watch?v=kC12zEFAvQo
LIVE STATS: Thursday at wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/wbball
                      Saturday at nnusports.com/sidearmstats/wbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats)
G—Senya Rabouin, 5-5, Jr. (13.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.9 apg, 2.1 spg, .373 3FG, .795 FT)
G—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, Jr. (11.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.6 spg, .475 FG)
G—Elaina Mack, 5-8, So. (8.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .365 3FG)
F—Vishe' Rabb, 5-9, Sr. (7.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 2.0 spg)
F—Kate Robertson, 6-2, Jr. (5.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.9 spg, .414 FG, .750 FT)
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team takes a seven-game winning streak on the road this week, facing fellow Great Northwest Athletic Conference contenders Central Washington on Thursday (6 pm AST) and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday (5 pm AST) ... UAA is hunting a fourth straight league victory after sweeping a three-game homestand.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Central Washington registered an eight-game win streak from Nov. 18-Dec. 30 before splitting its last four contests ... picked fifth in the GNAC preseason poll, the Wildcats are led by Asher Cai (20.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.4 spg, .363 3FG, .884 FT) and Valerie 'Sunshine' Huerta (19.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.3 apg, .381 3FG, .871 FT) ... Northwest Nazarene has also gone 2-2 since GNAC play resumed in January, and has played three of its six league contests within a four-point margin ... picked seventh in the preseason poll, the Nighthawks are led by Madeline Gebers (13.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, .500 3FG, .926 FT) and Kendall Clark (12.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .538 FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs CWU: UAA leads 37-18 overall, 15-9 in Ellensburg
Streak: CWU 3
Last: CWU 87-56 (2/11/23 at CWU)
Notes: CWU is going for its first four-game win streak against UAA since Feb. 2004-Jan. 2006 ... prior to CWU's current streak, UAA had won 30 of the previous 31 meetings, including a 19-game streak from 2013-22 ... UAA had won 14 straight in Ellensburg before last year's loss ... UAA leads 30-12 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 18-4 under head coach Ryan McCarthy … teams have played at least once per season since 1998-99 … teams played three times from 1979-81 and did not meet again until 1997.
 
vs NNU: UAA leads 32-18 overall; tied 11-11 in Nampa
Streak: NNU 1
Last: NNU 78-75, OT (2/9/23 at NNU)
Notes: NNU stopped a six-game skid against UAA with last year's victory in Nampa ... UAA leads 27-15 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 16-7 under head coach Ryan McCarthy, an NNU alum … series started in 2000-01 when both teams were in the PacWest Conference.
 
PERFECT HOMESTAND: The Seawolves ran their winning streak to seven games and moved above .500 in the GNAC, finishing a 3-0 homestand Saturday with an 84-55 victory over Alaska Fairbanks ... UAA got 20 points (8-14 FG, 2-4 3FG), 5 assists and 4 steals from Jr. PG Senya Rabouin and 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks from Jr. C Tori Hollingshead as it used a 20-0 over the third and fourth quarters to pull away ... So. G Elaina Mack added 11 points (3-7 3FG) and Jr. G Kya Pearson dished a career-high 7 assists without a turnover, helping UAA to team season bests of 29 turnovers forced and only nine committed.
 
TEAM NOTES: The current seven-game winning streak matches UAA's longest since Jan. 29-Feb. 17, 2022 ... the win over WWU avoided the program's first 0-3 GNAC start since 2003-04 ... the Seawolves lead the GNAC in steals per game (14.0, 10th nationally), turnover margin (+5.1), offensive rebounds per game (14.9) and offensive rebounding percentage (.395), and rank top-3 in scoring defense (58.4), scoring margin (+14.6), FG% defense (.371), 3FG% defense (.275), rebounds per game (39.7), rebound margin (+5.6) and assists (16.1 apg) ... the 33 points allowed against Clarion equaled UAA's 10th-fewest against a fellow NCAA Div. II opponent ... UAA's four-game losing skid from Nov. 24-Dec. 2 was its 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.
 
'WOLF BITES: A Preseason All-GNAC pick, Jr. G Jazzpher Evans ranks 18th in the GNAC with 11.1 points per game, along with 10th in steals per game (1.6) and 11th in FG% (.475 – third-best among guards) ... 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. PG Senya Rabouin has settled 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 13 of 14 games, and earning her first GNAC Player of the Week award for her effort against WWU and SFU ... the Arizona native already has four 20-plus scoring efforts to her credit, moving up in the GNAC stats to 11th in scoring (13.3 ppg), 1st in assists (4.9 apg), 4th in steals (2.1 spg), 12th in FT% (.795), 8th in 3FG% (.373), 9th in 3FGs per game (1.8) and 7th in A/T ratio (2.1) ... Rabouin's 10 assists Dec. 8 against Clarion were the first double-digit performance by a Seawolf since Nov. 2017 (Yazmeen Goo) ... Jr. C Tori Hollingshead has made a major impact since transferring from Umpqua (Ore.) CC, ranking among the GNAC leaders in scoring (15th, 12.3 ppg), rebounding (11th, 6.9 rpg), blocks (3rd, 2.1 [18th nationally]), steals (7th, 1.7 spg) and FG% (4th, .556) ... 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 ... Hollingshead's 2.1 blocks per game are on pace for No. 5 on UAA's single-season list and easily the most in the Ryan McCarthy era (since 2012-13) ... other Seawolves among the GNAC stats leaders are Jr. G Kya Pearson (5th, 1.9 spg), Jr. F Jaisa Gamble (6th, 1.9 spg) and So. G Elaina Mack (2nd, 2.5 3FG per game; 10th, .365 3FG%) ... Mack has nailed at least one three-pointer in all 14 games (12th-longest streak in program history), 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 ... Jr. G Ja'Niah Alexander has come on strong during UAA's six-game win streak, averaging 5.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.0 apg and 2.0 spg since Dec. 8 ... the Indian River (Fla.) CC transfer tallied season highs of 11 points (3-3 FG, 5-5 FT) and 5 steals to aid the win at SF State, and had 7 points (2-3 FG), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and no turnovers against WWU.
 
RABB RETURNS: After 10 months of rehab following a torn ACL in the 2023 GNAC Tournament, Sr. F Vishe' Rabb made her season debut with a team-high 16 points (7-10 FG), 3 assists and 3 steals in UAA's victory over No. 14 WWU on Jan. 4 ... the Augustana (S.D.) transfer made a huge impact in her new uniform last year, earning GNAC Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-GNAC honors ... 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).
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA is a combined 146-25 – including 67-14 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games since Dec. 2014 ... the Seawolves have gone a combined 219-23 (.906) in the last 16-plus seasons on their home courts, including 110-13 (.894) 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 is 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 71 of their last 76 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 271-58 (.824) at UAA and 285-71 (.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
SENYA RABOUIN
GNAC Player of the Week, Jan. 1-7