THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thursday, Feb. 13 – 6 pm AST – Carver Gymnasium – Bellingham, Wash.
#20/16 Alaska Anchorage (20-3, 11-1 GNAC) at Western Washington (14-8, 9-4 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Feb. 15 – Noon AST – SFU West Gymnasium – Burnaby, B.C.
#20/16 Alaska Anchorage at Simon Fraser (11-11, 4-9 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/wwuvikingsathletics
                       Saturday at youtube.com/watch?v=ftfQKuBOmS4
LIVE STATS: Thursday at wwuvikings.com/sidearmstats/wbball
                      Saturday at athletics.sfu.ca/sidearmstats/wbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Emilia Long, 5-9, Sr. (12.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.9 apg, 4.6 spg, .455 FG, .343 3FG, .738 FT)
G—Elaina Mack, 5-8, Jr. (13.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.4 spg, .392 3FG, .810 FT)
F—Jaisa Gamble, 6-0, Sr. (6.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.7 apg, 2.6 spg, .479 FG, .778 FT)
F—Ashlyn Rean, 6-2, Fr. (10.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.1 spg, .515 FG, .558 FT)
C—Tori Hollingshead, 6-3, Sr. (12.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.3 bpg, 2.0 spg, .514 FG, .618 FT)
 
BORDER FOES AWAIT: The UAA women's basketball team makes its annual trip to the U.S./Canada border to face playoff contender Western Washington on Thursday and Simon Fraser on Saturday ... the Seawolves hold a one-game lead over second-place Montana State Billings with six games remaining in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season, while Thursday's opponent sits just 2.5 games behind UAA in a tight four-team battle for the two GNAC Tournament quarterfinal byes.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Ranked No. 10 in the latest D2CSC West Region poll, Western Washington has won four of its last five to stay within striking distance of a GNAC Tournament bye and an NCAA Tournament berth ... entering the week with a magic number of one to clinch a GNAC Tourney berth, the Vikings are led by Olivia Wickstrom (14.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.6 spg, .434 3FG, .815 FT) and Alyson Deaver (13.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.5 bpg, .784 FT) ... Simon Fraser has dropped three games in a row to fall two games behind sixth-place Saint Martin's for the sixth and final GNAC Tourney berth ... the Red Leafs are led by GNAC-leading scorer Sophia Wisotzki (23.7 ppg, 2.4 apg, 1.7 spg, .861 FT) and Myrlaine Shelvey (12.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, .412 3FG).
 
THE SERIES...
vs WWU: UAA leads 31-30 overall, trails 15-11 in Bellingham
Last: UAA 67-59 (1/18/25 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAA has won three of the last four meetings, including 77-69 in Bellingham last season ... teams have played 34 times since Jan. 2011, including six GNAC Tourney meetings and NCAA 1st Round games in 2012 and 2022 ... UAA leads 24-21 in GNAC regular-season meetings (since 2001-02) ... UAA leads 17-11 under Ryan McCarthy ... WWU won the first seven meetings in series history, which began Feb.13, 1997.
 
vs SFU: UAA leads 26-9 overall, 9-6 in Burnaby
Last: UAA 78-63 (1/16/25 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: Last year's 79-72 overtime loss snapped UAA win streaks of 10 overall and eight straight in Burnaby ... UAA leads 20-6 in regular-season meetings since SFU joined the GNAC in 2010-11 ... UAA leads 19-6 under Ryan McCarthy ... first meeting was a 65-61 UAA win in Moscow, Idaho, Nov. 28, 1981.
 
'NOOKS COOKED: The Seawolves made it 33 wins in the last 34 meetings against their in-state rivals, downing Alaska Fairbanks 93-50 at the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday night ... UAA got three double-doubles as Fr. F Ashlyn Rean notched career highs of 22 points (9-13 FG) and 12 rebounds, Sr. C Tori Hollingshead had 19 points (9-14 FG), 10 rebounds, 3 blocks and a career-high-tying 5 steals, and Sr. PG Emilia Long had 13 points a career-high-tying 10 assists with no turnovers ... Jr. G Elaina Mack added 15 points to help power a 31-point second quarter, equaling UAA's most points in that period against a D-II foe ... the Seawolves' 11 blocks tied the third-most in program history and UAA's most in a GNAC game.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA is ranked in each NCAA Div. II national top-25 poll for the second week in a row, making significant leaps to No. 20 in the WBCA coaches' poll and No. 16 in the  D2CSC media voting ... last week marked UAA's first time back in the WBCA poll since Dec. 20, 2022 ... UAA leads the NCAA Div. II national stats in scoring margin (+32.3), steals per game (18.3) and turnover margin (+12.96), along with top-15 ranks in scoring defense (3rd, 48.3), rebound margin (3rd, +13.3), assists per game (4th, 18.5), A/T ratio (5th, 1.31), TO forced (6th, 27.1), offensive rebounding (7th, 17.7), scoring offense (9th, 80.7), blocks per game (14th, 4.5) and rebounds per game (15th, 42.6), and top-40 ranks in five additional categories ... the Seawolves lead the GNAC stats in 15 categories and rank top-3 in three 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 a half (4) and a quarter (0) ... the one point allowed in the second quarter at UAF was the fewest against any D-II opponent on the road ... 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: Now in her fifth year with the program, Sr. G Elaina Mack has emerged as UAA's leading scorer, posting  double figures in 17 of 23 games and ranking 14th in the GNAC with 13.2 ppg ... she is also 18th nationally and No. 2 in the GNAC with 2.7 3FGs per game, on pace to threaten the program single-season record ... the King Cove native has grabbed at least four rebounds in 11 games and holds a 1.4 A/T ratio; she has committed zero turnovers in 10 of the last 19 games and just 23 all year (second-fewest on the team), despite playing 72 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 1.95, along with career ranks of 9th in 3FGs made (145) and 14th in 3FG% (.365).
 
'HEAD OF THE CLASS: UAA's lone representative on the 2024-25 Preseason All-GNAC Team, Sr. C Tori Hollingshead has accounted for double-figure scoring in 16 of her 21 games and a team-high five double-doubles, capturing GNAC Player of the Week honors for her efforts against SFU and WWU ... the Orem, Utah, native and former Umpqua (Ore.) CC transfer holds GNAC ranks of 15th in scoring (12.7 ppg), 7th in rebounding (6.6 rpg), 5th in FG% (.514), 3rd in blocks (1.3) and 9th in steals (2.0), while her 3.8 offensive rebounds per game lead the league by nearly a full board per game ... Hollingshead's 79 career blocks are already tied for No. 7 all-time at UAA, while her career numbers of 1.6 bpg and .527 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 leads NCAA Div. II with 4.6 steals per game, on pace to crush UAA's single-season record ... a two-time GNAC Player of the Week, Long holds league ranks of 1st in steals and assists (4.9 apg), 2nd in A/T ratio (2.0), 17th in scoring (12.5 ppg) and 13th in FG% (.455), accounting for at least seven points in 22 of 23 games and multiple steals in all but two contests ... the two-time GNAC Player of the Week has skyrocketed from No. 3 on UAA's single-season list with 105, now just four swipes shy of Kiki Robertson's record 109 in 2016-17 ... 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, 3.0 rpg, 3.2 apg and 1.9 spg ... the Chicago native has scored double figures in 13 games this year, including 15-plus on eight occasions, surpassing 1,000 career points at the D-II level (now 1,154) on Nov. 30 ... she ranks 20th on UAA's all-time scoring list with 956 points, giving her a solid shot at becoming to 18th Seawolf to reach 1,000; she is also No. 10 on UAA's career steals list with 173 ... in the GNAC stats, Evans is 19th in scoring, 9th in steals, 13th in assists, 6th in A/T ratio (1.3), 16th in 3FG% (.363) and 19th in 3FGs per game (1.3).
 
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 14.9 ppg, 12.6 rpg and 5.0 spg ... Gamble ranks 3rd in the GNAC and 37th nationally with 2.6 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 to begin January, tallying 17 points (8-10 FG) in the road wins over NNU and CWU ... meanwhile, Sirowich has accounted for 5.0 ppg on .494 FG% and 5.0 rpg (19th GNAC), along with untold contributions on defense ... the Franklin Pierce transfer is also shooting a solid .333 (7-21) from long range and .806 (25-31) at the FT line, snagging 12 rebounds in the win at UAF and scoring 7 points in the win at CWU ... Alexander provides another huge lift for UAA's highly ranked defense, sitting 20th in the league with 1.6 steals per game ... the Georgia native scored a career-high 11 points in wins over against Biola and Western Washington, had 7 rebounds and 5 steals against Daemen, and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds at UAF ... Alexander has also committed just 15 turnovers in 410 minutes, with her 0.65 TO/gm the lowest rate on the team.
 
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 with 11 double-figure scoring efforts and four double-figure rebounding games, including 16 points (7-12 FG) in the win over Cal Poly Humboldt; 14 points/10 rebounds in the win over Western Oregon; and 22 points/12 rebounds against UAF ... a 6-2 forward, Rean holds GNAC ranks of 4th in FG% (.515), 8th in rebounding (6.6 rpg) and steals (2.1 spg), and 12th in blocks (0.8 bpg) ... meanwhile, Koehne is posting 6.5 ppg and 3.8 rpg, along with a GNAC-best 1.6 blocks per game and the 7th-best FG% (.492) in the league ... 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 167-30 – including 76-16 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games since Dec. 2014 ... the Seawolves have gone a combined 234-25 (.903) in the last 17-plus seasons on their home courts, including 125-15 (.893) 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 now produced 18 20-win seasons in 47 full years of program history ... the Seawolves have won 77 of their last 84 regular-season games against Div. II non-conference opponents ... UAA has already clinched its program's 18th consecutive winning record and is seeking a 15th NCAA Tournament appearance in its last 18 full seasons ... the Seawolves have still 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 .801 (315-78) ... the winningest coach in UAA women's basketball history (301-65) 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
JAISA GAMBLE
GNAC All-Academic Team
TORI HOLLINGSHEAD
GNAC All-Academic Team
GNAC Player of the Week, Jan. 13-19
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
ELAINA MACK
GNAC All-Academic Team
ASHLYN REAN
Hoops In Hawaii Classic All-Tournament Team
ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team