ANCHORAGE (May 3) – The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team added another pair of talented transfers to its 2024-25 roster Friday as head coach Ryan McCarthy announced that Telia Graham and Noa Muranaka have signed scholarship agreements to play for the Seawolves.

A 5-11 guard/forward, Graham comes north after an outstanding sophomore season at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo., where she averaged 7.2 points on 58 percent shooting and 7.9 rebounds per game. The Minneapolis native had three double-doubles and nine double-figure rebounding efforts for a MAC team that went 25-5 and reached the NJCAA Div. I Region 16 semifinals. As a freshman, she played a reserve role for a Johnson County (Kan.) Community College powerhouse that went 33-3 and made the NJCAA Div. II Elite Eight.

"We are very excited to add Telia to our program," said McCarthy, whose teams have finished top four in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference every season since 2012-13, including six titles. "She is a gifted athlete who has made some great strides under Coach (Briley) Palmer at Mineral Area College. She is an extremely good rebounder and can guard any position, which in today's game brings extra value. I think Telia's best basketball is ahead of her, and her natural gifts will shine brightly in our system."

Prior to her junior-college career, Graham helped Minnehaha Academy to back-to-back Minnesota Class AA quarterfinal appearances and a combined 43-10 record her final two high school seasons. As a senior, she averaged 6.3 points and 6.9 rebounds for a squad that went 26-6 and placed third at the state tournament.

Muranaka, a 5-8 guard, joins the Seawolves after two seasons at Allen County Community College in Iola, Kan., where she started every game for Red Devils squads that combined to go 41-18 and make back-to-back playoff appearances. As a sophomore in 2023-24, the Toyama, Japan, native was an honorable mention All-KJCCC performer, averaging 10.5 points, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game for a nationally ranked team that went 22-6 overall, 9-3 in the powerful Jayhawk Conference, and reached the NJCAA Div. II Region 6 semifinals.

"We're thrilled to add a player of Noa's caliber," McCarthy said. "We were fortunate enough to compete against a team from Japan in Taiwan six years ago, and I was blown away by their style and discipline. Noa embodies that style, and I think will add great value to our program. She is a good ball handler, can  score in a number of ways, and has a high basketball IQ. I'm excited to see how much further she can take her game with us, and Seawolf fans will really enjoy watching Noa play."

Muranaka will become the first UAA basketball player – men or women – from Japan, and joins fellow newcomers Hedda Kohne (Lette, Germany) and Ashlyn Rean (Rangiora, New Zealand) as international players on the 2024-25 roster.

Graham and Muranaka bring the Seawolves' spring recruiting class to four players, joining fellow transfers Kohne (6-1, F/C, Otero [Colo.] JC) and Kenzie Sirowich (5-11, F, Seymour, Conn./SHS/Franklin Pierce).