LACEY, Wash. (Mar. 8) – Tournament MVP Tori Hollingshead delivered 18 points and tied her career high with 15 rebounds Saturday to help propel top-seeded Alaska Anchorage to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships title with a 75-59 victory over 6th-seeded Saint Martin's at Marcus Pavilion.

Ranked No. 20 in both national polls, the Seawolves (27-4) also got 12 points and four assists from Emilia Long and nine points and a game-high six assists from fellow all-tournament selection Jazzpher Evans, earning the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

UAA's title is its seventh in the event's 14-year history and marks the sixth time the program has swept the regular-season and tournament crowns.

The Saints (18-11) were led by 16 points and three assists from all-tournament pick Kiana Rios, but could not capitalize on 48 percent shooting as their season came to an end.

"We were prepared for this. I don't think it was the perfect game, but the ladies battled," said UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy, who earned his fifth GNAC Tourney title since taking the reins in 2012-13. "I truly believe that no one works harder than they do, and we're doing this with eight players. I'm just super proud of them – they played so great."

With the memory of their 57-53 road loss to the Saints in the regular-season finale still fresh in their minds, the Seawolves fell behind 20-18 late in the first quarter of the teams' rubber match. UAA answered with an 9-0 run, however, getting a midrange jumper and a deep three-pointer from Evans to take the lead for good.

UAA extended to a 43-34 halftime edge despite seeing honorable mention All-GNAC forward Ashlyn Rean (12 points, 5-6 FG, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) hit the bench with her third foul, and having Long limited to just four minutes with two early fouls.

Playing in their first GNAC title game, the Saints continued to push for a third upset in three nights, drawing within 41-37 on a layup by Rios midway through the third quarter.

Leading 55-50, the Seawolves finally took control when Long and junior forward Hedda Koehne combined for seven straight points, and Long found Elaina Mack for a dagger three-pointer to make it 65-52 at the buzzer.

With Hollingshead dominating the boards (seven offensive rebounds) and Evans running point, the Seawolves overcame major foul trouble in the fourth quarter, switching to a zone defense to limit the Saints to 2-of-8 shooting down the stretch.

"This has been a goal since day one, and we put in so much work," said Hollingshead, a First Team All-GNAC center. "I didn't realize that I played that long (a UAA season- and career-high 38 minutes), but if it helped the team that's all I care about. I'm excited to celebrate this with the girls and see all our hard work (pay off)."

Hollingshead overcame a rough 4-of-17 shooting performance to do most of her damage with 10-of-12 free throw accuracy. The Utah native and former Umpqua (Ore.) Community College star recorded her GNAC-high 11th double-double and seventh in the last nine games.

Meanwhile, Evans committed only one turnover in 34 minutes, while Mack tallied nine points (2-5 3FG), two assists and no turnovers.

Junior forward Jaisa Gamble sparked UAA's first-half surge and finished with seven points (3-4 FG), three assists and three steals, while Koehne had six points (3-5 FG), four rebounds and a block.

"When you come to college, this is every kid's dream growing up," said Evans, a fourth-year senior who moved into 15th place on UAA's career scoring list with 1,060 points, along with 10th place on the assists list (267). "You get to this level and you want to be a part of a winning program – something that's important. And I got the opportunity with a great team around me. It's a surreal feeling. It's so exciting."

UAA will learn its NCAA Tournament seed and opponent when the national bracket is revealed at 6:30 p.m. ADT via livestream at ncaa.com.

2025 GNAC All-Tournament Team
Demi Dykstra, Western Washington
Jazzpher Evans, Alaska Anchorage
Emilia Long, Alaska Anchorage
Kiana Rios, Saint Martin's
Jada Travis, Saint Martin's
MVP: Tori Hollingshead, Alaska Anchorage