FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska women's basketball team begins Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at home this Saturday with a rivalry matchup against 10th-ranked Alaska Anchorage.
It marks the start of league play for both the Nanooks (3-5) and the nationally-ranked Seawolves (4-2). Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at the Patty Center.
“They have a really balanced attack, are well-coached and come from a high-standard of expectations as far as where they hope to go every year,” head coach
Cody Burgess said. “There's a lot of pressure on them to keep that where there's not nearly as much pressure on us, which gives us that opportunity to come out and challenge them and challenge ourselves. I think it is anybody's game in the fact that it's seven-and-a-half pounds of air in a basketball.”
UAF is coming off a 1-2 week at the 2011 Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational which saw it win the opening game and battle back from double-digit deficits in the second and third games before falling in both contests.
The Nanooks defeated Western State 68-58 last Thursday, and had losses against West Liberty (69-80) and tournament champion Lenoir-Rhyne (44-57). Redshirt senior center
Nicole Bozek (Mukilteo, Wash./Kamiak) was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds in Alaska's three games. She tallied a career-best 28 in Friday's loss to WLU and posted a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds Saturday versus LRU.
Coach Burgess spoke on the importance of coming out and getting a lead as opposed to playing from behind which the 'Nooks did in the previous two contests.
“It taught us that we need to come out and get a lead on teams and don't need to be fighting every game to come back from double-digit deficits,” Burgess said. “It's good to know we can fight back, but still haven't fought and won that game yet. It'd be better to come out from the start and be prepared. Against a team like Anchorage, it's not something you want to do but we're going to have to come out fired up and ready to go from the start.”
With a high-powered offense like UAA coming in, Burgess went on to preach defense being the key to success for the Nanooks in Saturday's intra-state rivalry.
“In order for this team to be successful, they have to be consistent defensively,” Burgess said. “We have to be able to contest shots, defend the post as well as box out and get rebounds. We have the ability to do so, but it needs to be a team effort, whether it's man or zone, whether it's full-court or half-court. Rebounding is extremely important and we emphasize every bit of defense right now.
Alaska Anchorage (Game Notes) vs. Alaska (Game Notes)
When: Saturday, Dec. 3 at 3:00 p.m.
Where: Fairbanks, Alaska (Patty Center)
Live Stats
Audio: KCBF 820 AM
Video: Penn Atlantic (Free Streaming)
About UAA: Located in Anchorage, Alaska, the University of Alaska Anchorage was founded in 1977 and has an enrollment of 20,242 students. The Seawolves enter Saturday with a 4-2 record after falling to a pair of Division I opponents in nationally-ranked Miami (FL) and Central Michigan at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout. Despite the setbacks, UAA is still ranked 10th in the nation and has three players scoring in double figures.
Haley Holmstead leads the squad with 14.7 points while Kaylie Robison averages a double-double with 10.2 points and 10.8 rebounds. Hanna Johansson is the second-leading scorer and rebounder with 13.7 points and 8.2 rebounds. The team's scoring margin through six games is plus-23.5 averaging 85 points a game as opposed to 61.5 that it allows per contest.
Conference Affiliation: Member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Western Washington is the defending conference champion while UAA won the tournament title. The Seawolves were a near unanimous preseason favorite in this season's poll. Other members include: Seattle Pacific, Northwest Nazarene, Simon Fraser, Western Oregon, Central Washington, MSU-Billings and Saint Martin's
Coach: Tim Moser (CSU-Pueblo '98) is in his sixth year as head coach of the UAA women's basketball team and has compiled a record of 139-29 during his tenure. He entered the 2011-12 season with the highest winning percentage (.835) among active D-II women's basketball coaches. He has a career record of 448-127 as he is in his 20th overall year as a head coach.
