UAA hosts Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout
Nov. 20 & 21 — Sullivan Arena (8,700) — Anchorage, Alaska
All times Alaska Standard
Tuesday’s Games (first round)
6 pm — Prairie View A&M (0-2) vs Utah State (0-3) 8 pm — North Dakota State (2-2) vs Alaska Anchorage (2-1) Wednesday’s Games
2:30 pm — Consolation game
5 pm — Championship game
RADIO: Both UAA games will air live locally on FM-93.7 KAFC
TV: Both of UAA’s Shootout games will be broadcast locally on a tape-delayed basis on KCFT (GCI Cable Ch. 19). The replays will air at 11 p.m. on the night of the game and at noon the next day.
SCOUTING THE BISON: North Dakota State started with home wins over Harvard and NAIA foe Mayville State before losing at Boise State and at home to Northern Iowa … the Bison, from Fargo, N.D., are led by 5-10 Sr. G Dani DeGagne (14.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.0 apg, .468 FG) and 5-8 Sr. G Katie Birkel (12.0 ppg, 3.8 apg, 3.3 rpg, .778 FT) … the Summit League squad has 10 players averaging at least 5.0 points and 13.0 minutes per game.
UAA ALL-TIME SERIES vs … North Dakota State: UAA leads 3-0 (first meeting in Anchorage) / Last Meeting: NDSU 100-56 (12/2/94 at NDSU) / Notes: NDSU has won each previous meetings by at least 19 points … NDSU was a fellow Div. II member at the time of all three games … first meeting was an 84-47 NDSU win in Fargo, Dec. 30, 1990. Prairie View: Never met. Utah State: UAA leads 3-2 (1-1 in Anchorage) / Last Meeting: UAA 81-62 (3/2/86 at UAA) / Streak: UAA 2 / Notes: UAA won in the Shootout (then called the Northern Lights Invitational) 7th/8th-place game in the last meeting … the teams also played in the Shootout first round in 1982, with USU winning 81-66 … first meeting was a 75-55 USU win in Honolulu, Dec. 18, 1979.
REGIS RECAP: The Seawolves got back on track with a pair of wins over Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Regis at the WFSC on Nov. 16 & 17 … in the first game, Sr. PG Sasha King dished 9 assists and led five Seawolves in double figures with 18 points (8-17 FG) as UAA pulled away late for an 85-76 win … Fr. G Jenna Buchanan tallied 17 points (5-9 3FG) and 6 rebounds, Jr. G Mariesha Harris had 16 points (5-10 FG, 6-6 FT), 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, and Jr. G/F Kylie Burns had 12 points (5-9 FG, 2-4 3FG) and 6 rebounds … Fr. G Jessica Madison had 11 points and 3 assists off the bench, while Sr. F Alysa Horn grabbed a game-high 8 boards … on Saturday, UAA built a 22-point lead and held on for a 70-67 win as King collected 17 points (4-9 3FG), 7 assists, 3 steals and no turnovers … Burns earned her first career double-double with 11 points — including the game-clinching putback with under 2 minutes to go — and 12 rebounds, while Harris and Horn combined for 27 points … UAA forced 49 turnovers and committed just 19 off its own over the two contests.
MORE TEAM NOTES: UAA has nearly doubled its opponents in the turnover column, forcing 72 while committing 37 … the same stat holds true in steals where UAA has 37 to its opponents’ 19 … the Seawolves’ loss to Colorado Mines snapped their 22-game home winning streak, dating to a Jan. 20, 2011 loss to Western Washington … after beating Regis on Nov. 16, UAA still has not lost two straight on its primary home court at the WFSC since Jan. 19 & 21, 2006 (St. Martin’s, Seattle) … the Mines loss also snapped a 33-game win streak when leading at halftime, dating to the same WWU game in 2011.
HORN O’ PLENTY: Sr. F Alysa Horn was tabbed a unanimous Preseason All-GNAC selection in voting by the league’s coaches last month … the Seawolves’ leading returning scorer and rebounder was an All-GNAC Honorable Mention pick last year and a 2nd-team selection as a sophomore … after three games, Horn is third on UAA in scoring (13.3 ppg) and second in rebounding (6.3 rpg), logging a team-high 37.3 minutes per game … on UAA’s career lists, Horn ranks 9th in FT% (.743) and 3FGs made (86), 11th in 3FGs per game (1.0), 14th in 3FG% (.336) and 21st in both points (758) and rebounds (401) … the Kodiak product needs just 12 points and 19 more rebounds to move into the top 20 in those categories.
KING ME: Sr. PG Sasha King is a unanimous Preseason All-GNAC selection as well, having logged 20 starts in her first full season … through three games the Oklahoman is on pace to set UAA’s assists record with 8.3 per contest, while committing just 8 turnovers in 105 minutes … King already ranks tied for 22nd on UAA’s career lists for assists (190) and 3FGs made (53); she needs just 11 more assists and three more treys to move into the top 20.
BURNS’ TURN: Moving into the starting lineup for the first time this season, Jr. G/F Kylie Burns is averaging 10.3 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game, more than doubling her sophomore numbers in both categories … the Kansas Citian is also leading the team with 52.2 percent shooting, including 4 of 9 from 3FG range … Burns’ 11 points and career-high 12 rebounds against Regis on Nov. 17 was her first career double-double, while her 3 steals matched her personal-best for the fourth time.
MORE PLAYER NOTES: Jr. G Mariesha Harris has made a major impact as UAA’s 2nd-leading scorer (14.0 ppg) and 3rd-leading rebounder (5.3 rpg) so far … the Wabash Valley (Ill.) JC transfer is also No. 2 on the squad in steals (2.7 spg) and assists (2.7 apg), while sinking 12 of 12 at the charity stripe … Fr. G Jenna Buchanan has made a quick transition to the college game, with a 11.0 ppg averaging and team-best 3FG numbers of 9 for 19 (.474) … the 2012 3A Player of the Year from Galena has also pulled down 4.3 rebounds and dished 2.0 assists per game … 5th-year Sr. G Jordan Martin is making a big impact off the bench with 4.3 points, 2.0 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game … with 13 points and 43 minutes played, the East Anchorage High product is already more than halfway to her totals from last season … redshirt Fr. G Jessica Madison has been solid in her ‘6th-woman’ role thus far with 6.3 points per game and a 5-2 assist-turnover ratio.
McCARTHY MAKES DEBUT: The ninth head coach to roam the sidelines for UAA women’s basketball, Ryan McCarthy is making Seawolf debut this season … formerly an assistant at GNAC rival Northwest Nazarene, McCarthy now has a 15-14 overall record as a head coach, having served in an interim capacity at NNU two seasons ago … McCarthy is assisted by first-year staff members RyAnne Ridge and Shaina Afoa.
REDSHIRTS ANNOUNCED: Coach Ryan McCarthy has announced that So. C Ilze Teilane and Fr. G Melissa Castle will redshirt in 2012-13 … Teilane, from Riga, Latvia, is a transfer from NE Oklahoma A&M College, while Castle was a prep star at Craig High School in Southeast Alaska.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: UAA started No. 22 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Division II Top 25 poll, extending at its streak to 82 consecutive weeks in the rankings. The longest top-25 streak in Division II, the Seawolves had been previously no lower than No. 19 in every poll since the beginning of the 2007-08 campaign … UAA is one of four West Region teams in the initial rankings, along with No. 8 UC San Diego, No. 13 Grand Canyon and No. 14 Western Washington. Here is an abbreviated look at the rankings (full poll online at wbca.org):
SEAWOLVES PICKED 5TH: Defending champion UAA was picked to finish 5th in the 2012-13 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball title chase, according to the league’s 12th annual coaches’ poll, released Oct. 25 … Western Washington, which finished runner-up to UAA a year ago, was picked to win the league with seven of 10 first-place votes, narrowly outpointing Simon Fraser.
12-13 GNAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll Rk Team (1st-pl. votes) ‘11-12 Rec. (Pl.) Pts
1. Western Washington (7) 22-8 (14-4,, 2nd) 96
2. Simon Fraser (3) 17-11 (11-7, 3rd-T) 93
3. Seattle Pacific 17-10 (11-7, 3rd-T) 76
4. Montana State Billings 18-12 (10-8, 6th) 63 5. Alaska Anchorage 30-5 (16-2, 1st) 57 6. Northwest Nazarene 18-10 (11-7, 3rd-T) 56
7. Central Washington 9-17 (5-13, 8th) 47
8. Western Oregon 7-21 (6-12, 7th) 30
9. Saint Martin’s 9-19 (4-14, 9th) 18
10. Alaska Fairbanks 6-22 (2-16, 10th) 14
(Points awarded on 11-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.)
BIG-TIME NUMBERS: UAA is the only team in women’s D-II hoops to reach 30 wins three times in the last five years, posting marks of 31-4 in 2008-09 and 30-5 in 2007-08 … the Seawolves have reached 23 victories in six straight seasons, including five straight with 24 or more, and four straight with 27 or more; last year was the 11th 20-win season in program history … UAA won its fifth regular-season conference title in 26 years of conference play; the Seawolves won three outright titles in the now-defunct Continental Divide Conference (1985-86, ’87-88, ’88-89) before sharing the GNAC crown with Seattle Pacific in 2008-09.
SEAWOLVES AT THE SHOOTOUT: UAA is the only Div. II women’s team to win a tournament against all-Division I competition, having won the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout in 1990, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009. The first title came when the tournament included eight teams and was known as the Northern Lights Invitational; the subsequent championships have come under the current, 4-team format …the Seawolves are 32-50 all-time in the Shootout and 12-14 since the current format began in 1999.
2011 SHOOTOUT RECAP: The Seawolves came away winless in their own Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout for the first time since 2005, despite strong showings against Div. I foes Miami (L, 72-55) and Central Michigan (L, 90-84, OT) … in the opener, UAA went toe-to-toe with the No. 7-ranked team in D-I, trailing just 28-26 at the half and 47-41 with 10 minutes left, before the Hurricanes pulled away late … four Seawolves scored 10 points apiece, including Kaylie Robison (4-7 FG) and Sr. F Tijera Mathews (4-6 FG), while UAA outrebounded the ‘Canes 39-33 … in the consolation game, UAA led 68-56 late in regulation, but all-tourney selection Crystal Bradford helped the Chippewas force overtime and eventually earn the win … Robison had career-highs of 22 points (7-12 FG), 16 rebounds and 3 steals to earn Carrs/Safeway Player of the Game honors, while Hanna Johansson tallied 20 points (7-11 FG), 9 rebounds and 4 assists … Robison and Johansson were both selected to the Shootout All-Tournament Team.
SUCCESS VS. D-I: UAA has 34 regular-season victories over Division I programs, including an unprecedented run of nine straight (Air Force, UC Riverside, Cleveland State, Santa Clara, Cal St.-Northridge, Syracuse, Coast Carolina, Cincinnati, San Jose State) from 2007-11 … UAA’s 49-48 win over Cincinnati (Nov. 25, 2009) was its fifth against a team from a BCS ‘power’ conference (Wake Forest, 1990; Georgia Tech, 1994; Clemson, 2003; Syracuse, 2008) … UAA’s first title came in 1990 when it was an 8-team tournament, then known as the Northern Lights Invitational.
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