FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team returns home this Thanksgiving Weekend, as they host the annual Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational at Alaska Airlines Court. The Nanooks will kick-off the Invitational with Sonoma State on Thursday and follow that up with a Friday afternoon affair with Wisconsin-Parkside on Friday before concluding the weekend with Northwood University on Saturday. All three games will be played at 3 p.m.
The Nanooks will seek their first Mt. McKinley North Star Invitational title this year, as the longstanding Invite once again brings some of the Nation's best NCAA Division II schools to the Last Frontier. This year's field features a pair of teams that qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament (Northwood, UW-Parkside), along with an NCAA West Regional foe in Sonoma State.
Last season, the Nanooks went 1-2 in the NSI as they defeated Colorado Christian on the final day. Alaska has had recent success in the Invitational, as they collected a runner-up finish in 2013 after going 2-1 with wins over Dominican (Calif.) and Less-McRae.
Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team concludes its three-game, four-day trip to Hawai'i with an 87-55 win over Hawai'i-Hilo this afternoon. The Nanooks finish the trip with a 2-1 record, as they got a pair of 20-point performances from senior Stephanie Toumson and junior Jordan Wilson.
The pair of forwards followed up their double-double effort against Chaminade with a pair of season-high performances in points. Toumson scored a career-high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The 6-1 forward had a strong performance from the charity stripe, as she hit eight of her 12 attempts and grabbed a game-high nine caroms. As for Wilson, the All-GNAC preseason selection hit all 11 of her field goal attempts to collect a season-best 23 points.
All-Time Series
Sonoma State: Alaska holds a 4-2 lead in the all-time series.
Northwood and Wisconsin-Parkside: This will be the first meeting between the two schools and Alaska.
Stepping Out of the West
Friday's game will mark the first time this season that the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team will play a non-NCAA West Regional game. Currently, all five contest the Nanooks have played have come against West Regional teams. That trend will continue in the first game of the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational, as they'll take on Sonoma State out of the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
Head coach Cody Bench is excited to see how her team stacks up against teams outside of the region.
"These non-region games are important to us because it will allow the rest of our conference to see how well we can do against tough teams from other regions. I think it's critical to prove that we are a tough team from a good conference against Northwood and Parkside."
Posting Up
Senior Stephanie Toumson and junior Jordan Wilson have owned the paint this season, as the post players are averaging 15. 8 (Toumson) and 14.8 (Wilson) points, respectively. Each player had a double-double in the win over Chaminade last week. Toumson scored 20 points and grabbed 10 boards, while Wilson tallied 13 points and collected 10 caroms herself. The duo followed that performance with a 20-point effort against Hawai'i-Hilo. Toumson posted a career-high 24 points in the win, while Wilson came through with a season-best 23.
"Credit to their teammates for getting them involved," Bench stated. "They get a lot of rebounds and know how to finish around the rim, which attests to their maturity. No one on this team is selfish. They find who is open and give them the ball. If teams are going to give us the post, then we will go into it. If they are going to allow us to shoot outside, then we will do that as well."
Scouting the Opposition – Sonoma State
The Seawolves have won three-straight games after suffering a season-opening loss to Holy Names. Sonoma State is coming off a 75-61 decision against Menlo at the Wolves' Den. SSU has picked to finish 13th in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
Aliyah Brantley and Fia Hoskinson both finished the game against with double-digits. Brantley scored 14 points, while Hoskinson collected 11. Sonoma State is averaging 56.7 points per game on a 37.2 shooting percentage. The Seawolves have been gotten off the a 3-1 start thanks in large part to their defense, as they are allowing just 48 points per game. They are limiting teams to just a 33.9 shooting percentage. They are finding a lot of success in the first period, as they have scored 55 total points through four games this year.
Hannah Sourek leads the team in scoring, as she is averaging 19 points per game. She has played just once this year. SSU has seven players averaging 5.3 points or better, led by Jerrica Crosby's 7.3 points per game.
Scouting the Opposition – Wisconsin-Parkside
The Rangers enter this year's Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational a perfect 3-0 after scoring victories over Tiffin University, Alderson Broaddus and Davis & Elkins College. UW-Parkside has won each game by double-digits. The Rangers were picked second in the East Division in the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason poll.
Wisconsin-Parkside had four players score in double figures in a 14-point win over Davis & Elkins College last Sunday. Tara Knapstein scored a game-high 18 points, while Shelby Cheston collected 17 points off the bench. Stephanie Furr and Kristin Conniff each posted 16 points in the win. The Rangers are averaging 75.7 points per game, while shooting 42.2 percent from the field.
UW-Parkside has four players averaging double-digits in the scoring column, as Conniff is the team's leading scorer with her 12.7 points per game average.
Scouting the Opposition – Northwood
The Timberwolves enter this week's North Star Invitational with a 2-1 record. NU is coming off a 69-60 win over Indianapolis this past Saturday. Northwood was prediction to finish third in the North Division of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The Timberwolves had three players score in double-digits against Indianapolis last Saturday. Jordyn Nurenberg led the way for NU, as she had a 15-point, 14-rebound effort. Lauren Robak scored 14 points, while Maddy Seeley added 13. On the year, Northwood is averaging 66.7 point per game as a team and shoot 37 percent from the field.
Nurenberg is the team's leading scorer and rebounder, as she is averaging 18 ppg and 12.7 rebounds per contest. The All-GLIAC first team selection has collected a double-double in all three of her contest this year.
Coaches Corner
"I think Sonoma State has improved, but I also think we matchup with them fairly well. It's a West Region game, and we want to be able to compete in our region, so that will be an important game to start with. Northwood and Wisconsin-Parkside are coming off NCAA Tournament appearances and they are off to a strong start again this season. It's going to be excited to see how we stack up against teams like that. It should be a fun Invitational to watch." – Head Coach Cody Bench on the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational Field.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter.
