FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team officially opens the 2017-18 season with a pair of non-conference contests against a West Region rival in the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Crossover this Friday, Nov. 10 and Saturday, Nov. 11. The Nooks will host the University of Hawaii at Hilo Vulcans at the Alaska Airlines Court with Friday's game tipping-off at 7pm AKT while Saturday's matchup is scheduled for 2pm AKT.
Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team competed in their annual Blue vs. Gold game on Friday, Oct. 27 which saw the Gold team defeat the Blue team 43-30. Junior transfer
Angela Murnion turned in a 15-point effort to lead her teammates in the intersquad scrimmage, as the Grass Range, Montana native shot 5-for-11 from the floor while also chipping in eight rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in 40 minutes on the court.
A New Era
The 2017-18 season is the start for first-year head coach
Brett Sawyer, who took over the program from former head coach Cody Bench in June of this year. Sawyer is no stranger to the Nanooks though, as he served as the team's assistant coach for the past two seasons under Bench. Now at the helm, Sawyer named former Alaska women's basketball player and Fairbanks native
Jessie Craig as his assistant coach in August.
GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll
The GNAC Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches Poll was released last week, placing the Nanooks in tenth place overall. The GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll was voted on by all women's basketball head coaches within the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, with Alaska receiving 21 points. The Nanooks concluded the 2016-17 season in seventh place within the conference with an overall record of 13-14, while also going 9-11 in conference play.
Welcome Back
The Alaska Nanooks only return seven players to this year's roster, with two of their returners never playing a minute last season. The Nooks welcome back sophomore
Lexi Carpenter, sophomore
Romay Harris, junior
Sanni Salonen, redshirt-sophomore
Sabrina Ungaro, sophomore
Kylie Wallace, junior
Marian Wamsley and senior
Cassi Williams. Ungaro was a redshirt for the 2016-17 season while Williams played for the Nanooks from 2013-16 before taking the season off in 2016-17.
Fresh Faces
Despite coming off as an entirely new team with eight newcomers, the Alaska Nanooks will still have some experience on their roster as they only bring in five community college transfers. Alaska welcomes junior
Ashlie Blackburn, junior
Emily Evans, freshman
Anna Hansen, freshman
Kaylyn Kelly, junior
Angela Murnion, sophomore
Brittany Richards, freshman
Samantha Saccomen and junior
Josie Sewell.
Scouting the Opponent – Hawaii-Hilo
The Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans visit the Nanooks after placing ninth in the PacWest Conference standings last year with an overall record of 8-15 and a conference mark of 8-12. The Nanooks last played the Vulcans on Nov. 21, 2015 that saw an 87-55 victory for Alaska. Last Wednesday, the Vulcans played an exhibition contest against NCAA Division I Hawaii that came as a 34-85 loss for UHH. The Vulcans were led by Sarah Toeaina, who registered 13 points while Makenna Woodfolk posted 12 rebounds.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball team page on Facebook.
