Sunday, December 21, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - Alaska Anchorage outscored its opponents by 37.7 points in three wins last week to earn the Red Lion Hotels Team of the Week.

The Seawolves went 3-0 in three straight days playing Texas A&M Kingsville and Pacific (Ore.) at the Seawolf Hoops Classic Friday and Saturday and Hawaii Pacific on Sunday.

Alaska Anchorage forced 34 turnovers in a 90-49 rout of Texas A&M Kingsville led by forward Megan Mullings career-high 20 points.

"Our ladies did a very good job of playing to our standards and playing good defense," head coach Ryan McCarthy said in 'Seawolf Highlights' after Friday's win. "I'm very pleased with the 34 turnovers which, in turn, led us to a lot of buckets."

The next day the third-ranked Seawolves beat up on Division III Pacific 85-39 as sophomore forward Alysha Devine led the team with 19 points. The Most Outstanding Player at the tournament was junior Jenna Buchanan and freshman Leah Bonner was named to the all-tournament team.

Facing the eighth-ranked team in the West according to the D2SIDA West Region rankings, the Seawolves took care of business at home beating Hawaii Pacific 109-83. The 109 points were the second highest point total in school history against Division II schools, trailing only the 120 points scored against then Division II Air Force in 1989.

In the three wins the Seawolves nearly shot 50 percent from the field while out-rebounding their opponents 122-99. UAA stole the ball 49 times to add to its nationally leading 163. Nine players averaged at least seven points while five averaged double figures led by Buchanan's 17.3 points per game. 

Adding three wins to its already stellar resume, UAA matched its best start in school history going 12-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

So far this year, the Seawolves rank in the top 10 in the country in 10 different categories including topping the ranks in scoring margin, steals per game and win-lost percentage.

With the non-conference portion of the schedule in the books, the Seawolves will host GNAC foes Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington the first week of the New Year.