THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thursday, Jan. 2 – 5 pm AST – Johnson Sports Center – Nampa, Idaho
Alaska Anchorage (11-2, 2-0 GNAC) at Northwest Nazarene (6-4, 0-1 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Jan. 4 – 3 pm AST – Nicholson Pavilion – Ellensburg, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage at Central Washington (8-2, 1-0 GNAC)
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday – youtube.com/live/tPpXeJXHfFY
                       Saturday – youtube.com/@CWUAthletics
 
LIVE STATS: Thursday – nnusports.com/sidearmstats/wbball
                       Saturday – wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/wbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Emilia Long, 5-9, Sr. (13.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.4 apg, 4.9 spg, .460 FG, .730 FT)
G—Elaina Mack, 5-8, Jr. (14.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.6 spg, .404 3FG, .769 FT)
F—Jaisa Gamble, 6-0, Sr. (6.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 3.2 spg, .443 FG, .800 FT)
F—Ashlyn Rean, 6-2, Fr. (8.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.0 spg, .523 FG)
C—Tori Hollingshead, 6-3, Sr. (12.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 1.9 spg, .489 FG, .617 FT)
 
GNAC GRIND BEGINS: The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team returns to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play for remainder of the regular season this week, continuing a five-game road swing with games at Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington ... the Seawolves are one of just three teams unbeaten in league play after the initial contents Dec. 5-7, along with MSU Billings and CWU.
 
KNOW THE FOES: Northwest Nazarene rebounded from its GNAC-opening loss to Central Washington (74-60) with a 78-72 win over MSU Denver in its non-conference finale Dec. 20 ... the Nighthawks are led by Kendall Clark (15.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg, .607 FG) and Madeline Gebers (11.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.8 spg, .365 3FG) ... Central Washington got off to a 7-0 start before suffering its lone losses at CSU Dominguez Hills (85-73) and CSULA (71-68) just before the break ... the Wildcats are led by player-of-the-year candidate Sunny Huerta (18.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.5 spg, GNAC-best .517 3FG) and Asher Cai (17.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.6 spg, 365 3FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs NNU: UAA leads 33-18 overall; tied 11-11 in Nampa
Last: UAA 70-59 (2/15/24 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 2
Notes: UAA has won eight of the last nine, with NNU's win coming 78-75 in OT on Feb. 9, 2023 ... the Seawolves won 79-63 last year in Nampa ... UAA leads 29-15 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 18-7 under head coach Ryan McCarthy, an NNU alum … series started in 2000-01 when both teams were in the PacWest Conference.
 
vs CWU: UAA leads 38-19 overall, 16-9 in Ellensburg
Last: CWU 72-65 (2/17/24 at UAA)
Streak: CWU 1
Notes: CWU has won four of the last five since snapping a 19-game losing skid to UAA (2013-22) ... the road team has won four of the last five regular-season meetings, including UAA's 68-62 win last year in Ellensburg ... UAA leads 31-13 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 19-5 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.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Seawolves had their six-game winning streak snapped with their 54-51 loss at Hawaii Pacific on Dec. 19, before bouncing back with a 68-37 drubbing of first-time foe Daemen the next day in the non-conference finale ... in the first contest, Sr. C Tori Hollingshead tied and set career highs with 22 points and 14 rebounds, but the Seawolves shot a season-low .240 (18-75) as they lost to the Sharks for the first time in 14 meetings ... against the New Yorkers, Fr. F Ashlyn Rean scored a career-high 18 points (8-14 FG) and nabbed 8 rebounds, while Sr. PG Emilia Long had 16 points, 4 assists and 5 steals ... Jr. G Elaina Mack added 13 points, and Sr. G Ja'Niah Alexander had 7 rebounds and a career-high-tying 5 steals as UAA led 35-12 at halftime and held the Wildcats to zero second-chance points.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the NCAA Div. II national stats in scoring margin (+42.5), turnover margin (+16.8) and A/T ratio (1.47), along with top-10 ranks in scoring defense (2nd, 42.5), steals (2nd, 20.2), assists (4th, 18.6), scoring offense (4th, 85.3), rebound margin (2nd, +17.4), offensive rebounding (3rd, 20.3), TO forced (3rd, 29.5), rebounds (6th, 45.4) and bench points (10th, 33.5), ... the Seawolves lead the GNAC stats in 14 categories and rank second in two others ... the 108-41 win over Western Oregon erased UAA's 113-51 loss at WOU (Dec. 6, 2003) from the record books as the most lopsided in a GNAC game, and topped a 107-47 victory at SMU (2/23/19) for the Seawolves' most points in a GNAC game ... UAA set or tied nine team records in its two games against Simpson to open the season, including fewest points allowed in half (4) and a quarter (0) ... the Seawolves accounted for 15 more school records with their 139-22 blowout of Stanton, including largest margin, most points, and largest halftime lead (79-7).
 
MACK ATTACK: Jr. G Elaina Mack has started the year at a blazing pace with double figures in 11 of 13 games, ranking 6th in the GNAC with 14.9 ppg and 2nd nationally with 3.4 3FGs per game ... the King Cove native has grabbed at least four rebounds in 10 of 13 games and holds a 19/12 A/T ratio; she has committed  zero turnovers in seven of the last nine games and just 12 all year, despite playing 51 more minutes than her next-closest teammate ... boosted by seven treys in the Nov. 2 win over Simpson, Mack is 5th on UAA's career list for 3FGs per game at 1.97, along with career ranks of 10th in 3FGs made (128) and 3FG% (14th, .367).
 
'HEAD BANGER: UAA's lone representative on the 2024-25 Preseason All-GNAC Team, Sr. C Tori Hollingshead has accounted for double-figure scoring in 10 of 13 games and a pair of double-doubles ... the Orem, Utah, native and former Umpqua (Ore.) CC transfer holds GNAC ranks of 16th in scoring (12.1 ppg), 11th in rebounding (6.1 rpg), 7th in FG% (.489), 5th in blocks (1.1) and 11th in steals (1.9), while her average of 4.0 offensive rebounds lead the league by 1.2 per game ... Hollingshead's 66 career blocks already rank 9th all-time at UAA, while her career numbers of 1.5 bpg and .553 FG% are both on pace for top-3 program marks.
 
LONG GAME: The Seawolves have a new floor general this year in Sr. G Emilia Long, who owns the NCAA Div. II lead with 4.9 steals per game ... in the GNAC stats, Long is also 3rd in assists (4.4 apg), 12th in scoring (13.2 ppg), 12th in FG% (.460) and 3rd in A/T ratio (1.9), accounting for at least 7 points in 12 of 13 games and multiple steals in every contest ... in addition to recording 21 points and a school-record 11 steals in the season opener against Simpson, Long helped UAA to a 1-1 mark against D-I foes in the ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout, making the all-tournament team ... originally from Port Angeles, Wash., and a former JC star at Peninsula College, Long was the 2023-24 CCAA Newcomer of the Year in both soccer and basketball at Cal Poly Humboldt, prior to transferring to UAA.
 
ALL THAT JAZZ: UAA's most experienced player, Sr. G Jazzpher Evans (four years at UAA/2020-21 Covid season at Quincy) has leant a steady hand thus far, tallying 12.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 3.4 apg ... the Chicago native has scored double figures in eight of 13 games, surpassing 1,000 career points at the D-II level (now 1,050) on Nov. 30, and tallying a season-high 20 points (4-6 3FG) against Western Oregon ... she now ranks 26th on UAA's all-time scoring list at 838, needing four more to reach the top 25 ... in the GNAC stats, Evans is 15th in scoring, 8th assists, 4th in A/T ratio (1.7), 5th in 3FG% (.410), 19th in 3FGs per game (1.3) and 14th in steals (1.8).
 
FOREIGN BLOCKADE: The Seawolves have found success in the international route, getting major contributions from newcomers Ashlyn Rean (Rangiora, New Zealand) and Hedda Koehne (Lette, Germany) on the interior ... after joining the Seawolves as a redshirt in January, Rean has debuted this fall with five double-figure scoring efforts, including 16 points (7-12 FG) in the win over Cal Poly Humboldt and 14 points/10 rebounds in the win over Western Oregon ... a 6-2 forward, Rean holds GNAC ranks of 3rd in FG% (.523), 10th in rebounding (6.1 rpg), 9th in steals (2.0 spg) and 16th in blocks (0.6 bpg) ... meanwhile, Koehne is posting 6.8 ppg and 4.1 rpg, along with a GNAC-best 1.7 blocks per game ... with five blocks against Jessup, Koehne joined Tori Hollingshead as one of just six Seawolves to swat that many against an NCAA Div. II opponent.
 
UNSUNG HEROES: The Seawolves have gotten low-key contributions from a trio of veterans thus far, with Sr. F Jaisa Gamble, Jr. G Kenzie Sirowich and Sr. G Ja'Niah Alexander combining for 15.6 ppg, 12.3 rpg and 5.7 spg ... Gamble ranks 3rd in the GNAC and 18th nationally with 3.2 steals per game, with at least four steals in seven contests ... meanwhile, Sirowich has accounted for 5.8 ppg and 4.8 rpg, along with untold contributions on defense ... the Franklin Pierce transfer is 15th in the GNAC with 1.7 offensive boards per game, while shooting .509 (28-55) from the field and 14 of 15 at the FT line ... Alexander provides another huge lift for UAA's highly ranked defense, averaging 4.5 ppg and 2.3 spg over the last eight games ... the Georgia native scored a season-high 11 wins against Biola and had season bests of 7 rebounds and 5 steals against Daemen.
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA is a combined 158-29 – including 72-15 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games since Dec. 2014 ... the Seawolves have gone a combined 229-25 (.902) in the last 17-plus seasons on their home courts, including 120-15 (.890) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... UAA is 36-2 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 77 of their last 84 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: Now in 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 .799 (306-77) ... the winningest coach in UAA women's basketball history (290-64) 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).
 
2024-25 SEAWOLF INDIVIDUAL HONORS
TORI HOLLINGSHEAD
Hoops In Hawaii Classic All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
EMILIA LONG
GNAC Player of the Week, Dec. 2-8
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team
GNAC Player of the Week, Oct. 28-Nov. 3
ASHLYN REAN
Hoops In Hawaii Classic All-Tournament Team
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team