THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Saturday, Jan. 11 – 1 pm AST – Patty Center – Fairbanks, Alaska
Alaska Anchorage (13-2, 4-0 GNAC) at Alaska Fairbanks (5-7, 0-4 GNAC)
 
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=nUfptC-yHk4
LIVE STATS: alaskananooks.com/sidearmstats/wbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Emilia Long, 5-9, Sr. (13.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 4.2 apg, 4.9 spg, .464 FG, .761 FT)
G—Elaina Mack, 5-8, Jr. (14.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.5 spg, .398 3FG, .824 FT)
F—Jaisa Gamble, 6-0, Sr. (6.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 3.2 spg, .483 FG, .765 FT)
F—Ashlyn Rean, 6-2, Fr. (8.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.9 spg, .520 FG, .567 FT)
C—Tori Hollingshead, 6-3, Sr. (12.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 1.7 spg, .503 FG, .600 FT)
 
ROAD WINDS TO FAIRBANKS: The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team completes a month-long, five-game road swing when it faces its oldest rival, Alaska Fairbanks, at 1 p.m. Saturday at UAF's Patty Center ... the Seawolves are looking to extend a three-game win streak and remain unbeaten in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while UAF is hunting its first league win.
 
'NOOKS KNOWLEDGE: Alaska Fairbanks has followed a 5-1 start with a six-game losing skid, earning its last victory 82-66 over Chaminade on Nov. 22 ... picked ninth of 10 teams in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll, the Nanooks are led by Destiny Reimers (12.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.8 spg, .778 FT) and Kayla Johnson (10.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .457 FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs UAF: UAA leads 77-31 overall, 48-6 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 78-75 (2/10/24 at UAF)
Streak: UAA 3
Notes: UAA has won 31 of the last 32 meetings overall and 15 of the last 16 in Fairbanks ... UAF's lone win since 2007 was a 61-56 decision Jan. 7, 2023 in Fairbanks … UAA leads 36-8 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 21-1 under Ryan McCarthy … teams have played at least twice per season since 1979-80, not counting the basically non-existent 2020-21 campaign ... UAA has faced UAF 30 more times (108) than its second-most frequent opponent, Seattle Pacific (78).
 
SATISFYING SWEEP: The Seawolves enjoyed a successful start to GNAC road play last week with victories at Northwest Nazarene (72-59) and Central Washington (68-61), earning GNAC Team of the Week honors for their efforts ... on Thursday, Sr. C Tori Hollingshead had 19 points (8-8 FG, 3-4 FT), 7 rebounds and 2 blocks to spearhead the win over NNU, tying former All-American Hanna Johansson's single-game school record for FG% (8-8 at NNU, 12/31/11) ... Jr. G Elaina Mack had 17 points, Sr. PG Emilia Long tallied 13 points, 4 assists and 6 steals, and Fr. F Ashlyn Rean had 8 points and a career-high 11 rebounds as UAA forced the Nighthawks into 31 turnovers ... on Saturday, the Seawolves got 13 points and 6 assists from Sr. G Jazzpher Evans to propel UAA over CWU in a battle of GNAC title contenders, outshooting the Wildcats .518 to .327 ... Long had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, Rean notched 9 points (4-5 FG), 6 rebounds and 2 blocks, and Jr. G/F Kenzie Sirowich had 7 points (3-4 FG) and 6 rebounds as all nine Seawolves scored at least 3 points.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves are the only West Region team among the 'others receiving votes' category in this week's WBCA NCAA Div. II Top 25 poll, sitting two spots out of the rankings with 21 votes ... UAA leads the NCAA Div. II national stats in scoring margin (+38.1) and turnover margin (+14.9), along with top-10 ranks in scoring defense (2nd, 45.1), steals per game (2nd, 19.5), rebound margin (2nd, +15.1), offensive rebounding (4th, 19.0), TO forced (5th, 28.7), A/T ratio (6th, 1.31), assists per game (7th, 18.1) and scoring offense (7th, 83.3), and top-30 ranks in eight additional categories ... the Seawolves lead the GNAC stats in 15 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 12 of 15 games, ranking 8th in the GNAC with 14.3 ppg and 4th nationally with 3.1 3FGs per game ... the King Cove native has grabbed at least four rebounds in 10 games and holds a 1.5 A/T ratio; she has committed zero turnovers in eight of the last 11 games and just 15 all year, despite playing 45 more minutes than her next-closest teammate ... boosted by seven treys in the Nov. 2 win over Simpson, Mack is 4th on UAA's career list for 3FGs per game at 1.96, along with career ranks of 10th in 3FGs made (131) and 3FG% (14th, .364).
 
'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 11 of 15 games and a pair of double-doubles ... the Orem, Utah, native and former Umpqua (Ore.) CC transfer holds GNAC ranks of 15th in scoring (12.1 ppg), 11th in rebounding (6.1 rpg), 8th in FG% (.503), 6th in blocks (1.1) and 16th in steals (1.7), while her average of 3.9 offensive rebounds lead the league by 1.1 per game ... Hollingshead's 68 career blocks already rank 9th all-time at UAA, while her career numbers of 1.6 bpg and .526 FG% are both on pace for top-6 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 (4.2 apg), 11th in scoring (13.1 ppg), 12th in FG% (.464) and 3rd in A/T ratio (1.7), accounting for at least 7 points in 14 of 15 games and multiple steals in every contest ... in addition to her 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 11.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg and 3.4 apg ... the Chicago native has scored double figures in nine games this year, surpassing 1,000 career points at the D-II level (now 1,063) on Nov. 30, and tallying a season-high 20 points (4-6 3FG) against Western Oregon ... she ranks 24th on UAA's all-time scoring list at 865, needing 56 more to reach the top 20 ... in the GNAC stats, Evans is 20th in scoring, 9th assists, 6th in A/T ratio (1.5), 9th in 3FG% (.386) and 14th in steals (1.8).
 
UNSUNG HEROES: The Seawolves have gotten low-key contributions from a trio of veterans, with Sr. F Jaisa Gamble, Jr. G Kenzie Sirowich and Sr. G Ja'Niah Alexander combining for 15.8 ppg, 11.9 rpg and 5.8 spg ... Gamble ranks 2nd in the GNAC and 15th nationally with 3.2 steals per game, recording six games with five or six swipes ... the Bay Area native had her best back-to-back offensive performances in GNAC games last week, tallying 17 points (8-10 FG) in the wins over NNU and CWU, while playing a career-high 34 minutes Saturday ... meanwhile, Sirowich has accounted for 5.7 ppg on team-best .525 FG% shooting and 4.5 rpg, along with untold contributions on defense ... the Franklin Pierce transfer is also shooting a solid .350 (7-20) from long range and .824 at the FT line, snagging 8 rebounds in the win over Saint Martin's and scoring 7 points in the win at CWU ... Alexander provides another huge lift for UAA's highly ranked defense, sitting 20th in the GNAC with 1.6 steals per game ... the Georgia native scored a season-high 11 wins against Biola and had season bests of 7 rebounds and 5 steals against Daemen ... Alexander has also committed just nine turnovers in 227 minutes this year, with zero multi-turnover games against D-II opponents.
 
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 and two double-figure rebounding games, 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 4th in FG% (.520), 6th in rebounding (6.4 rpg), 11th in steals (1.9 spg) and 14th in blocks (0.7 bpg) ... meanwhile, Koehne is posting 6.7 ppg and 4.0 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.
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA is a combined 160-29 – including 74-15 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 .800 (308-77) ... the winningest coach in UAA women's basketball history (294-64) 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
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2024-25
TEAM
Game
Most Points – 139 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 133 vs LSU Shreveport, 1/12/95)
Most Points, 1st Half – 79 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 68 vs Crow College, 11/17/95)
Most Points, Either Half – 79 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 73 vs LSU Shreveport, 1/12/96)
Largest Victory Margin – 117 at Stanton (old record: 97 vs Crown College, 11/17/95)
Fewest Points Allowed, 2nd Half — 4 vs Simpson, Nov. 1 (old record: 9 vs Warner Pacific, 11/6/98)
Fewest Points Allowed, Either Half — 4 vs Simpson, Nov. 1 (ties record: 4 vs Lincoln Christian, 11/3/07)
Fewest Rebounds Allowed – 14 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 15 vs Colorado Christian, 12/3/05; & vs Kuyper College, 1/2/09)
Rebound Margin – +40 [54-14] at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: +37 vs Kuyper College, 1/2/09)
Most Points, 1st Qtr – 45 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 32 at Western Oregon, 1/5/17)
Most Points, 2nd Qtr — 34 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 31 vs Simpson, 11/1/24; at Hawaii Pacific, 12/14/21; & vs William Jewell, 10/30/15)
Most Points, 3rd Qtr – 37 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 33 vs Saint Martin's, 2/16/23)
Most Points, Any Qtr – 45 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 34 at NW Nazarene, 1/16/16)
Fewest Points Allowed, 1st Qtr: 2 vs Simpson, Nov. 2 (ties record set vs Winston-Salem State, 12/27/21)
Fewest Points Allowed, 3rd Qtr: 0 vs Simpson, Nov. 1 (ties record set vs MSU Billings, 1/18/20)
Fewest Points Allowed, Any Qtr: 0 vs Simpson, Nov. 1 (ties record set vs MSU Billings, 1/18/20; & vs New Hope Christian, 11/6/15)
Fewest Points Allowed, 4th Qtr: 4 vs Simpson, Nov. 1; and at Biola, Nov. 18 (ties record set vs Hawaii Hilo, 11/20/15)
Largest Differential, 1st Qtr: 42 (45-3) at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 23 vs MSU Billings, 1/18/20)
Largest Differential, 2nd Qtr: 30 (34-4) at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 27 vs New Hope Christian, 11/6/15)
Largest Differential, 3rd Qtr: 29 (37-8) at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old records: 27 vs Simpson, Nov. 1; and 25 vs New Hope Christian, 11/6/15)
Largest Differential, Any Qtr: 42 (45-3) at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old records: 27 vs Simpson, Nov. 1; & vs New Hope Christian, 11/6/15)
Largest Halftime Lead: 72 (79-7) at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 56 [68-12] vs Crown College, 11/17/95)
Largest Halftime Lead (conference game): 35 [48-13] vs Western Oregon, Dec. 7 (old record: 33, twice vs UAF)
INDIVIDUAL
Game
Highest FG% (min. 8 att.): 1.000 [8-8], Tori Hollingshead at Northwest Nazarene, 1/2/25 (ties record by Hanna Johansson at Northwest Nazarene, 12/31/11)
Most Steals — 11, Emilia Long vs Simpson, Nov. 1 (old record: 10, Stacie Cepin vs The Master's, 2/15/98)
Most Steals vs D-II Opponent – 9, Emilia Long vs Western Oregon, Dec. 7 (ties record set six times previously)
 
GNAC Records Broken/Tied in 2024-25
TEAM
Game
Victory Margin (conference game): 67 [108-41] vs Western Oregon, Dec. 7 (old record: at WOU 113, UAA 51, 12/6/03)
Most Points – 139 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 127 by Northwest Nazarene vs Walla Walla, 11/27/01)
FG Made – 60 at Stanton, Nov. 16 (old record: 58 by Northwest Nazarene vs Walla Walla, 11/27/01)
Fewest FG Attempts Allowed — 25 vs Simpson, Nov. 1 (old record: 28 by UAA at Chaminade, 12/30/09)
INDIVIDUAL
Game
Most Steals — 11, Emilia Long vs Simpson, Nov. 1 (old record: 10, Shantell Marquis, MSU Billings vs Northwest Nazarene, 1/26/08; and Marina Valles, Northwest Nazarene vs Colorado Mesa, 11/23/19)