THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL...
 
Thursday, Feb. 27 – 4:15 pm AST – New P.E. Building – Monmouth, Ore.
at #15 Alaska Anchorage (24-3, 15-1 GNAC) at Western Oregon (8-16, 4-12 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Mar. 1 – 2 pm AST – Marcus Pavilion – Lacey, Wash.
#15 Alaska Anchorage at Saint Martin's (14-10, 7-9 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/watch?v=4x0gUUfEuuU
                       Saturday at youtube.com/@SMUAthleticsYT/streams
LIVE STATS: Thursday at wouwolves.com/sidearmstats/wbball
                      Saturday at smusaints.com/sidearmstats/wbball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024-25 stats)
G—Emilia Long, 5-9, Sr. (12.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 5.2 apg, 4.4 spg, .463 FG, .333 3FG, .771 FT)
G—Elaina Mack, 5-8, Jr. (12.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.2 spg, .385 3FG, .826 FT)
F—Jaisa Gamble, 6-0, Jr. (6.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 2.4 spg, .475 FG, .750 FT)
F—Ashlyn Rean, 6-2, Fr. (10.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.3 spg, 1.1 bpg, .514 FG, .547 FT)
C—Tori Hollingshead, 6-3, Sr. (13.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.4 bpg, 2.0 spg, .519 FG, .670 FT)
 
OUTRIGHT QUEST CONCLUDES: The UAA women's basketball team tries to earn the outright Great Northwest Athletic Conference title and wrap up the No. 1 seed for the league tournament when it visits Western Oregon and Saint Martin's for its regular-season finales Thursday and Saturday ... the Seawolves need just one win or one MSU Billings loss to claim the outright crown, already having clinched no worse than a tie with the Yellowjackets.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Western Oregon has dropped four in a row and nine of its last 10 as it prepares to finish the season this week ... the Wolves are led by Bella Pedrojetti (15.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .364 3FG, .758 FT) and Enid Vaifanua (8.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.2 spg) ... sitting in the sixth and final GNAC Tournament position, Saint Martin's needs just one win or one Simon Fraser loss this week to secure that berth ... the Saints are led by Jada Travis (14.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.0 spg, .735 FT) and Kiana Rios (14.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, .867 FT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs WOU: UAA leads 42-9 overall, 20-3 in Monmouth
Last: UAA 108-41 (12/7/24 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAA's Dec. 7 victory in Anchorage set both program and GNAC records for largest margin in a conference game ... teams played only once last year due to WOU canceling its season with three weeks to play ... WOU's 73-53 upset in Anchorage last season snapped UAA's 37-game winning streak – the Seawolves' longest against any opponent in any sport ... UAA has won 19 straight in Monmouth, with WOU's last win on Jan. 16, 2003 ... UAA leads 38-6 in GNAC games (since 2001-02, not including forfeits) and 21-1 under head coach Ryan McCarthy ... teams have played each season since 1998-99 ... first meetings were in 1979-80.
 
vs SMU: UAA leads 38-16 overall, 16-10 in Lacey/Olympia
Last: UAA 78-58 (12/5/24 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 4
Notes: UAA has won 15 of the last 16 overall and eight of the last nine in Lacey ... the Seawolves won 64-50 last year in Lacey ... UAA leads 31-13 in GNAC regular-season meetings and 19-4 under Ryan McCarthy … teams have played at least once per season since 1997-98, except for the pandemic campaign ... first meeting was Dec. 4, 1992.
 
TITLE TIE SECURED: The Seawolves can do no worse than a tie for the program's ninth GNAC regular-season title after lopsided victories over No. 16 MSU Billings (87-64) and Seattle Pacific (99-51) last week at the Alaska Airlines Center ... in the first contest, Sr. G Jazzpher Evans scored a career-high 25 points (8-13 FG, 4-7 3FG, 5-7 FT) and passed the 1,000-career points mark at UAA as the Seawolves avenged their lone GNAC loss and handed MSUB its worst setback since 2022 ... Fr. F Ashlyn Rean had 18 points (9-16 FT), 9 rebounds and a career-high 4 blocks, Sr. C Tori Hollingshead had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals, and Sr. PG Emliia Long had 9 points and tied her career high with 10 assists, helping UAA shoot .530 (35-66) from the field ... on Saturday, Hollingshead had 26 points (10-19 FG, 6-7 FT) and 15 rebounds on her way to GNAC Player of the Week honors, helping UAA to advantages of 55-32 in rebounds, .439 to .288 in FG% and plus-17 in turnovers ... Long had 23 points (8-16 FG, 7-7 FT), 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals, while Rean collected 17 points (8-11 FG), 9 rebounds, 5 assists and a career-best 6 steals as UAA recorded its largest margin in 80 all-time meetings against the Falcons.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves are No. 15 in both national polls this week, reaching their highest rank of the season in both the WBCA and D2CSC versions ... UAA leads the NCAA Div. II national stats in steals per game (17.7), turnover margin (+12.5) and scoring margin (+32.0), along with top-15 ranks in 12 additional categories – scoring defense (2nd, 49.3), rebound margin (2nd, +13.6), A/T ratio (4th, 1.34), assists per game (5th, 18.6), offensive rebounding (5th, 17.8), TO forced (7th, 26.4), scoring offense (8th, 81.2), rebounds per game (10th, 43.0), blocks per game (11th, 4.8), FG% (14th, .454), bench scoring (14th, 27.8) and FG% defense (15th, .348) ... 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).
 
'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 20 of her 25 games and a GNAC-high nine double-doubles, twice capturing GNAC Player of the Week honors ... with a current streak of five straight double-doubles, the Orem, Utah, native and former Umpqua (Ore.) CC transfer holds GNAC ranks of 11th in scoring (13.7 ppg), 3rd in rebounding (7.4 rpg), 4th in FG% (.519), 2nd in blocks (1.4) and 10th in steals (2.0), while her 4.2 offensive rebounds per game lead the league by a margin of 1.4 ... on UAA's career lists, Hollingshead is 7th in blocks (88), 3rd in blocks per game (1.66), 11th in rebounds per game (6.9), 6th in FG% (.528), t-14th in double-doubles (12) and 40th in scoring (694 points).
 
MACK ATTACK: Now in her fifth year with the program, Sr. G Elaina Mack has emerged as UAA's third-leading scorer, posting  double figures in 18 of 27 games and ranking 16th in the GNAC with 12.1 ppg ... she is also 33rd nationally and No. 2 in the GNAC with 2.5 3FGs per game, on pace to threaten the program single-season record ... the King Cove native has grabbed at least four rebounds in 12 games and holds a 1.4 A/T ratio; she has committed zero turnovers in 12 of the last 23 games and just 25 all year (second-fewest on the team) ... boosted by seven treys in the Nov. 2 win over Simpson, Mack is 5th on UAA's career list for 3FGs per game at 1.91, along with career ranks of 8th in 3FGs made (151) and 14th in 3FG% (.365).
 
LONG GAME: The Seawolves have a new floor general this year in Sr. G Emilia Long, who leads NCAA Div. II with 4.4 steals per game, on pace to crush the UAA and GNAC single-season records; with 119 swipes entering Thursday, Long is already the UAA and GNAC record holder in total steals for a season, surpassing Kiki Robertson's 109 in 2016-17 ... a two-time GNAC Player of the Week, Long holds league ranks of 1st in steals and assists (5.2 apg, 18th nationally), 2nd in A/T ratio (2.2), 15th in scoring (12.7 ppg) and 11th in FG% (.463) and 12th in FT% (.771), accounting for at least seven points in 26 of 27 games and multiple steals in all but two contests ... 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 with 12.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.2 apg and 1.7 spg ... the Chicago native has scored double figures in 17 games this year, including 15-plus on 10 occasions, surpassing 1,000 career points at the D-II level (now 1,220) on Nov. 30 and 1,000 points at UAA on Feb. 20 ... she ranks 17th on UAA's all-time scoring list with 1,022 points, along with 10th in steals (176) and, 11th in assists (254) ... in the current GNAC stats, Evans is 17th in scoring, 15th in steals, 11th in assists, 5th in A/T ratio (1.5), 7th in 3FG% (.384) and 18th in 3FGs per game (1.5).
 
QUITE A GAMBLE: The Seawolves got great news recently, learning that starting forward F Jaisa Gamble has reverted to junior eligibility thanks to an NCAA waiver ... Gamble ranks 3rd in the GNAC and 44th nationally with 2.4 steals per game, recording six games with five or six swipes ... the Bay Area owns five double-figure scoring efforts this year, including recently outputs of 13 points (6-9 FG), 8 rebounds and 3 assists in the road win over Simon Fraser, and 12 points (4-6 FG), 7 rebounds and 3 assists in the home win over Northwest Nazarene.
 
ALEXANDER THE GREAT: Sr. G Ja'Niah Alexander provides another huge lift for UAA's highly ranked defense, rising to 14th in the GNAC with 1.8 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 20 turnovers in 510 minutes, with her 0.74 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 ... Rean has debuted with 14 double-figure scoring efforts and four double-figure rebounding games, averaging 14.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.9 spg and 1.6 bpg since Jan. 16 ... with three double-doubles to her credit, Rean holds GNAC ranks of 5th in FG% (.514), 4th in steals (2.3 spg), 7th in rebounding (6.9 rpg) and 5th in blocks (1.1 bpg) ... meanwhile, Koehne is posting 6.1 ppg and 3.8 rpg, along with a GNAC-best 1.5 blocks per game and the 7th-best FG% (.482) 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, while her 37 total blocks already rank 17th on UAA's single-season list.
 
SIROWICH SIDELINED: The Seawolves got bad news recently when it was confirmed that Jr. F Kenzie Sirowich is out for the season with an ACL injury suffered Feb. 8 against UAF ... Sirowich accounted for 5.0 ppg on .494 FG% and 5.0 rpg (then-20th GNAC), along with untold contributions on defense ... the Franklin Pierce transfer also shot 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.
 
WINNING WAYS: UAA is a combined 171-30 – including 78-16 on the road – in GNAC regular-season and tournament games since Dec. 2014 ... the Seawolves have gone a combined 236-25 (.904) in the last 18 seasons on their home courts, including 127-15 (.894) 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 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 .804 (319-78) ... the winningest coach in UAA women's basketball history (305-65) 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, Feb. 17-23
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
 
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 rec.: 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)
Season
Most Steals — 119, Emilia Long (old record: 109, Kiki Robertson, 2016-17)
 
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)
Season
Most Steals — 119, Emilia Long (old record: 109, Kiki Robertson, UAA, 2016-17)