THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Fri., Nov. 1 – 7 pm ADT – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Simpson (1-0) at Alaska Anchorage (0-0)
&
Sat., Nov. 2 – 4 pm ADT – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, AK
Simpson at Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/wbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023-24 stats/notes)
G—Emilia Long, 5-9, Sr. (15.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.1 apg, 2.8 spg, 763 FT at CP Humboldt)
G—Jazzpher Evans, 5-6, Jr. (9.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.3 spg, .397 FG)
G—Elaina Mack, 5-8, Jr. (7.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, .343 3FG, .800 FT)
F—Jaisa Gamble, 6-0, Sr. (3.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.8 spg, .422 FG)
C—Tori Hollingshead, 6-3, Sr. (12.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.9 bpg, 1.6 spg, .538 FG)
 
FOR OPENERS: The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team begins the 2024-25 season this weekend when it hosts NAIA opponent Simpson (Calif.) University at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the games tip at 7 p.m. ADT Friday and 4 p.m. ADT Saturday.
 
2024-25 SEASON OUTLOOK: The Seawolves return two starters – ­Jr. G Elaina Mack and Sr. G Jazzpher Evans – among five total letterwinners from last year's squad that went 19-9 overall and 13-5 (3rd) in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, questionably missing the NCAA Div. II Tournament by a whisker ... UAA will also rely heavily on five transfers (2 D-II/3 JC) and returning redshirt Fr. C Ashlyn Rean as they try to return to the national playoffs for the first time since 2022.
 
RED HAWK RUN-DOWN: Coming off a 15-14 record, Simpson opened its season Saturday with a 77-61 home win over Lincoln (Calif.), led by 18 points apiece from Anna Marshall and Cerina Nguyen ... the Red Hawks, from Redding, Calif., are an NAIA program that plays in the California Pacific Conference ... these will mark the first head-to-head meetings between UAA and Simpson in any sport.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves last year continued their program's string of qualifying for every GNAC Tournament since its inception in 2011 ... UAA led the GNAC in steals per game (13.3, 8th nationally), turnovers forced (21.9, 16th nationally), turnover margin (+5.4, 14th nationally), offensive rebounds per game (14.9, 23rd nationally) and offensive rebounding percentage (.382), and ranked top-3 in scoring margin (+10.0), FG%, rebounds per game (38.9) and rebound margin (+4.1).
 
'HEAD GAME: Despite coming off the bench in all but six games, Sr. C Tori Hollingshead was UAA's leading scorer (12.5 ppg), rebounder (6.6 rpg), shot blocker (1.9 bpg) and FG% shooter (.538), picking up Second Team All-GNAC honors in her debut season in Green & Gold ... the Umpqua (Ore.) CC transfer is UAA's lone representative on the 2024-25 Preseason All-GNAC Team after posting GNAC ranks of 11th in scoring, 10th in rebounding, 2nd in blocks (22nd nationally), 7th in steals (1.6 spg) and 5th in FG% (26th nationally) ... the Orem, Utah, native led UAA with three double-doubles, including an 18-point/12-rebound effort in the road win over CWU, and scored double figures in 20 of 28 games ... Hollingshead's 1.9 blocks per game ranked No. 6 on UAA's single-season list and were easily the most in the Ryan McCarthy era (since 2012-13).
 
FEARSOME FIVESOME: Including Hollingshead, all five of the Seawoles' returning letterwinners made major contributions in 2023-24, combining to average 36.6 points and 19.7 rebounds ... Sr. G Jazzpher Evans enters her fifth season (four at UAA/2020-21 Covid season at Quincy) at the NCAA Div. II level, having averaged 9.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game last year ... the Chicago native tied her career high with 20 points (8-14 FG, 4-4 FT) in the opener at Pacific, and topped that with 21 points against Adams State ... Evans enters the season well within reach of 1,000 career points, currently with 905 ... Jr. G Elaina Mack has blossomed into one of UAA's most consistent competitors, entering her fifth season (2020-21 Covid/2021-22 redshrit) with a 6.1 career scoring average and 84 three-pointers ... last year the King Cove native ranked 5th in the GNAC with 2.0 3FGs per game and 12th in 3FG% at .343, nailing at least one 3FG in the first 17 games (t-7th-longest streak in program history)... Mack's big games included a 5-of-6 (17 pts) effort in a win at HPU, 17 points (5-9 3FG) in a win at Saint Martin's ... UAA ranked 13th in NCAA Div. II with 30.0 bench points per game last year, thanks in part to returning seniors Jaisa Gamble and Ja'Niah Alexander ... a 6-0 forward, Gamble was the team's 4th-leading rebounder with 4.1 rpg, while posting GNAC ranks of 5th in steals (1.9 spg) and 14th in offensive boards (1.7 orpg) ... a 5-10 guard, Alexander came on strong during the second half of the season, finishing with averages of 3.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.5 apg and 1.1 spg ... the Georgia native logged at least nine minutes in every contest, propeling the road win over SF State with 11 points.
 
NEW AND IMPROVED: The Seawolves feature six active newcomers, with three JC transfers, two NCAA Div. II transfers and redshirt freshman all set to make major contributions ... Sr. G Emilia Long leads the parade after becoming the first student-athlete to capture California Collegiate Athletic Association Newcomer of the Year honors in both basketball and soccer at Cal Poly Humboldt ... hailing from the same hometown (Port Angeles, Wash.) as former UAA star Jessica Madison, Long scored double figures in 21 of 25 games for the Lumberjacks last year, posting CCAA top-10 ranks in scoring (8th), FG% (8th, .441), FT% (10th, .763) … as a JC star at Peninsula (Wash.) College, Long was the two-time NWAC North Defensive Player of the Year, leading her team to back-to-back titles … the other D-II transfer, Jr. G Kenzie Sirowich, hails from all the way across the country, starting 56 of 60 games in two seasons at Franklin Pierce (N.H.) … the Connecticut native averaged 7.6 ppg and 6.5 rpg for an FPU club that went 20-11 and reached the NCAA Tournament last year, with 10 double-figure scoring efforts and six double-digit rebounding marks … UAA also went far and wide for its three JC transfers, bringing a pair of international products north in Jr. F/C Hedda Koehne (Germany) and Jr. G Noa Muranaka (Japan) … Koehne averaged 10.1 ppg on .506 FG%, 6.8 rpg, 2.3 apg and 2.2 bpg in two seasons at Otero (Colo.) JC, leading the NJCAA Region IX South Division in blocks both years and earning its 2023-24 defensive player-of-the-year honor … the first Japanese player in UAA program history, Muranaka started every game in two seasons at Allen County (Kan.) CC, earning honorable mention all-league honors last season with 10.5 ppg, 2.8 apg and 1.3 spg for a nationally ranked squad … Jr. F Telia Graham comes north from Mineral Area (Mo.) College, where she produced 7.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg and .576 FG for a 25-5 team last season … the final newcomer is not really new, as Fr. F/C Ashlyn Rean joined the program as a redshirt in January after graduating from high school in her native New Zealand … a mobile presence with extensive international experience, the coaching staff expects a significant impact from the rookie.
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA is a combined 156-29 – including 72-15 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games since Dec. 2014 ... the Seawolves have gone a combined 223-25 (.899) in the last 17 seasons on their home courts, including 114-15 (.884) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... UAA is 34-2 all-time against NCAA Div. II non-conference opponents at the Alaska Airlines Center in the regular season ... 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 ... the Seawolves have produced 17 20-win seasons in 47 years of program history prior to this season ... the Seawolves have won 71 of their last 76 regular-season games against Div. II non-conference opponents ... UAA has 17 consecutive winning records and is seeking a 15th NCAA Tournament appearance in its last 18 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 13th season at UAA and 14th overall as head coach in 2024-25, Ryan McCarthy stands No. 4 on the NCAA Div. II lists for both active winning percentage and all-time winning percentage at .797 (295-75) ... the winningest coach in UAA women's basketball history (281-62) 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 served in an interim capacity at his alma mater Northwest Nazarene in 2010-11, leading an undermanned Nighthawks squad to a 14-13 mark … McCarthy is assisted by 13th-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 (2nd season).
 
2023-24 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
(returnees only)
JAZZPHER EVANS
GNAC/PacWest Crossover MVP
Preseason All-GNAC Team
TORI HOLLINGSHEAD
Second Team All-GNAC
Team MVP
GNAC Player of the Week, Jan. 15-21
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team
GNAC/PacWest Crossover All-Tournament Team
ELAINA MACK
Most Improved Player (team honor)
GNAC All-Academic Team