THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thursday, Dec. 18 – 6:45 pm AST – The Shark Tank – Honolulu, Hawaii
Alaska Anchorage (7-2, 0-2 GNAC) vs Colorado Mines (4-7, 2-2 RMAC)
&
Saturday, Dec. 20 – 5:45 pm AST – The Shark Tank – Honolulu, Hawaii
Alaska Anchorage vs #23 Ferris State (7-2 [Thu. vs WTAMU])
 
LIVE VIDEO: passthaballlive.com/category/live-events/hoops-in-hawaii
 
LIVE STATS: hpusharks.com/sidearmstats/wbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2025-26 stats)
G—Faith Mersburgh, 5-5, Jr. (5.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.2 spg, .350 3FG)
G—Mylee Anderson, 5-8, Fr. (13.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.1 spg)
G—Elaina Mack, 5-8, Jr. (20.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.0 spg, .448 FG, .395 3FG)
F—Mahaila Harrison, 6-0, So. (17.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 2.0 spg, .444 FG, .727 FT)
C—Lillee Duffin, 6-1, Jr. (8.1 ppg, 13.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, .537 FG)
 
HONOLULU HOOPIN': Following an 11-day break, the Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team ends its 2025-26 non-conference slate this week with games against Colorado Mines and No. 23 Ferris State at the Hoops In Hawaii Classic in Honolulu ... both games will take place on Hawaii Pacific's home court at The Shark Tank ... the Colorado Mines game will carry added importance as it is considered a NCAA Div. II region 'counter' for purposes of playoff power rankings.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Colorado Mines has gotten off to a 4-7 start while playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, suffering four of their losses to nationally ranked teams ... the Orediggers, from Golden, Colo., and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, are led by Sofia Baldessari (14.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg, .826 FT) and Jenna Shandy (12.8 ppg, 3.5 apg, .364 3FG) ... ranked two spots ahead of UAA in the national poll, Ferris State suffered its lone non-conference loss to then-No. 2 Union (73-70) on Nov. 8, and split its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference openers at Purdue Northwest (W, 97-43) and Wayne State (84-71) last week ... the Bulldogs, from Big Rapids, Mich., are led by Kadyn Blanchard (15.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.3 apg) and Mia Riley (14.4 ppg, .359 3FG, 5.6 rpg, 2.8 apg).
 
THE SERIES...
vs Colorado Mines: UAA leads 3-1
Streak: CSM 1
Last: CSM 80-74 (11/9/12 UAA)
Notes: Teams' last meeting was at the old UAA Sports Center (now the Avis Alaska Sports Complex) and was Ryan McCarthy's first game as head coach ... UAA won the first meeting, 102-76, in Jan. 1990 at CSM, before sweeping the Orediggers in a Nov. 1994 home series ... teams have never played on a neutral court.
 
vs Ferris State: Never played
 
UGLY OPENERS: The Seawolves suffered their first two losses of 2025-26 in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference openers Dec. 4 & 6 at Saint Martin's and Western Oregon ... in a rematch of last year's GNAC Tournament title game at SMU,  Sr. G Elaina Mack (15 pts/11 rebs) and Jr. C Lillee Duffin (10 pts/13 rebs) posted double-doubles, but UAA was hurt by 24 turnovers in the 69-60 loss ... two days later, Duffin scored a career-high 15 points and nabbed 16 boards as UAA succumbed to foul trouble in a 77-69 loss at WOU ... Mack had 17 points and Fr. G Mylee Anderson scored 16 points in the Seawolves' first loss in Monmouth since 2003.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves fell out of the WBCA NCAA Div. II Top 25 coaches' poll this week after a four-week stint, now sitting 'No. 26' with 26 votes ... UAA ranks in the top half of the GNAC in all but a few primary statistical categories, including first in scoring margin (+19.3), rebounds per game (48.8), offensive rebounds per game (15.4), defensive rebounds per game (33.3) and assists per game (18.0) ... in the NCAA D-II national stats, UAA leads the nation in rebounds per game, along with top-15 ranks in defensive rebounding (2nd), A/T ratio (4th, 1.38), scoring offense (6th, 83.1 ppg), 3FGs per game (6th, 9.6), assists (7th), fewest turnovers per game (12th, 13.0), scoring margin (12th) and rebound margin (14th, +10.6).
 
MACK ATTACK: In her sixth year with the program, Sr. G Elaina Mack has developed into an all-around scoring threat and a virtual coach on the court for the Seawolves this year, twice earning GNAC Player of the Week honors already ... the team captain was named to the All-GNAC Preseason Team, coming off an honorable mention All-GNAC season as a junior ... after posting double figures in 19 of 33 games as a junior, the King Cove native started 2025-26 with a school-record-tying 41 points against Northwest, breaking UAA's school record for threes in a game with 10 ... the King Cove product holds top-20 national ranks of in 3FGs per game (2nd, 3.3) and scoring (19th, 20.3 ppg), along with GNAC ranks of 1st in 3FGs per game, 2nd in scoring, 5th in rebounding (7.6 rpg), 4th in 3FG% (.395), 13th in assists (2.7), 7th in blocks (0.8) and 4th in minutes per game (33.7) ... on UAA's career lists, Mack is 4th in 3FGs per game (2.03), tied for 4th in 3FGs made (191), 14th in 3FG% (.366) and 25th in points (877).
 
'WOLF BITES: Playing her first big minutes since high school, So. F Mahaila Harrison has made an impressive debut with 17.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 2.0 spg ... the VCU transfer grabbed 15 rebounds in the second win over Northwest, and has scored at least nine points eight of nine games ... Harrison ranks 5th in scoring, 10th in rebounding and 7th in steals in the GNAC stats ... Jr. C Lillee Duffin leads UAA with four double-doubles and nabbed at least nine rebounds in every game, including a school-record-tying 24 boards in UAA's victory over Hilo ... the Lane (Ore.) CC transfer and Idaho Falls prep product leads the GNAC and ranks 2nd in NCAA Div. II with 13.4 rpg, along with league ranks of 1st in offensive rebounding (4.1), 6th in FG% (.537) and 10th in minutes per game (31.8) ... a three-time all-state selection at Wasilla High, Fr. G Mylee Anderson has started her collegiate career with double-figure scoring in seven of nine games, including 23 points in her debut against Northwest and 21 points at Chaminade ... Anderson leads all GNAC freshmen with 13.7 points per game, posting overall league ranks of 12th in scoring, 5th in assists (3.7 apg) and 14th in minutes (30.8) ... So. G Kimberly Carrada Sanchez has provided a major spark off the bench in every game, tallying double-figure points in six contests and going for 23 rebounds, 10 assists and just one turnover in the second win over UC Merced ... the Northwest (Wash.) University transfer is 2nd in the GNAC and ranks 5th nationally with a 3.2 A/T ratio, along with league ranks of 3rd in assists (4.7 apg, 22nd nationally), 17th in steals (1.7 spg) and 14th in FT% (.774).
 
SINGING A NEW THUNE: Indiana native Matt Thune (pronounced 'TUNE') begins his head coaching career after assistant stints at five NCAA Div. I programs, helping to spark major turnarounds during stops at Utah Tech, Eastern Kentucky and Weber State ... at Utah Tech, Thune was promoted to associate head coach in 2023-24 after helping the Trailblazers to a nine-win improvement the previous year ... Utah Tech's 19-12 record in 2022-23 marked its most wins in 12 years, achieving the first postseason berth and victory in its Div. I era ... Thune joined Utah Tech's staff following a three-year stint at Eastern Kentucky (2019-22), including two seasons as the program's associate head coach ... at EKU he assisted in rebuilding a program that had not won a Division I contest the year prior to his arrival, helping the Colonels to the fourth-best turnaround in D-I his first year, and a postseason berth in 2022 ... Thune spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Weber State from 2015-18, helping the Wildcats to achieve the most wins in program history (23) and a runner-up finish in the postseason WBI tournament in 2016 ... he got his coaching start on Jeff Walz's staff at Louisville from 2012-15, assisting in the Cardinals taking 89 of a possible 110 contests ... the Cards won at least 25 games each season, appearing in three Sweet 16s, two Elite 8s and finishing national runner-up in 2013 ... the Indianapolis native graduated from Indiana University in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in management, and earned a master's degree in sports administration from Louisville in 2014 ... Thune is assisted by Jaelen Tatum (1st season) and former Bartlett High star Mia 'Uhila (1st season.)
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA is a combined 174-33 – including 80-19 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games since Dec. 2014 ... the Seawolves have gone a combined 241-25 (.906) over the last 19 seasons on their home courts, including 132-15 (.898) at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014-15) ... UAA's run of six straight GNAC regular-season titles (2015-20) is the longest of any basketball program – women's or men's – since the league was founded in 2001-02 ... the Seawolves have produced 18 20-win seasons in 47 full years of program history ... the Seawolves have won 80 of their last 87 regular-season games against Div. II non-conference opponents, including a 39-2 mark at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA has earned 18 consecutive winning records and made 15 NCAA Tournament appearances in its last 18 full seasons ... the Seawolves have never failed to qualify for the GNAC Tournament, winning seven of the 14 titles since the event started in 2011.
 
2025-26 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
ELAINA MACK
GNAC Player of the Week, Nov. 24-30
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team
GNAC Player of the Week, Nov. 3-9
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
2025-26 SCHOOL RECORDS BROKEN/TIED
TEAM
Most 3FGS Made, Game – 16 vs Northwest University, 11/7 (ties record for fourth time)
Most Points, 1st Qtr, Home Game – 36 vs Northwest University, 11/7 (old record: 31 vs Dixie State, 11/13/15)
Most Points, 2nd Qtr, Home Game – 33 vs Northwest University, 11/8 (old record: 31, three times)
Most Points, Any Qtr, Home Game – 36 vs Northwest University, 11/7 (old record: 33, three times)
INDIVIDUAL
Most Points, Game – 41, Elaina Mack vs Northwest University, 11/8 (ties record by Allegra Stoetzel vs Spring Arbor, 11/24/95 at Detroit, Mich.)
Most Points, Home Game – 41, Elaina Mack vs Northwest University, 11/8 (old record: Robin Graul vs Radford, 2/28/87)
Most Rebounds, Game – 24, Lillee Duffin vs Hawaii Hilo, 11/18 (ties record by Tammy Middaugh vs Puget Sound, 12/11/81)
Most 3FGs Made, Game – 10, Elaina Mack vs Northwest University, 11/8 (old record: 9, Sasha King vs Northwest Nazarene, 2/16/13)
Most 3FGs Made, Half – 7, Elaina Mack vs Northwest University, 11/8 (ties record by Maria Nilsson vs Saint Martin's, 2/3/07 & by Rachel Ingram vs MSU Billings, 1/27/22)