FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team welcomes the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks and Central Washington Wildcats this week at the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center. 

Thursday, Jan. 12
Northwest Nazarene | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets
5:15 p.m. | Alaska Airlines Gymnasium | Fairbanks, Alaska

Saturday, Jan. 14
Central Washington | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets
3:00 p.m. | Alaska Airlines Gymnasiu | Fairbanks, Alaska

Last Time Out
The Nanooks women's hoops team is fresh off of their big win over Alaska Anchorage on Saturday, Jan. 7 in Fairbanks. After a 32-32 tie at the halftime break and a seven-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter, the Nanooks used a 17-5 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter to snag a 61-56 win over the Seawolves behind 25 points from sophomore guard Destiny Reimers. Reimers posted 15 points in the second-half and eight in the fourth quarter. Sam Tolliver was the only other 'Nook in double-digits with 11 points. This win over UAA was Alaska's first since Jan. 27, 2007, an 85-83 OT win over UAA in Fairbanks. 

GNAC Team of the Week
Thanks to the historic win over Anchorage, the Nanooks women's basketball team was named the GNAC Team of the Week. Head coach Amy Donovan was proud of her team's efforts coming in against UAA, "I couldn't be more proud of our team. We've talked with them since day one about the work it takes to change the direction of a program and they've bought in from that moment. Last week our ability to string together consecutive stops was huge for us. We also had a lot of players step up with huge offensive performances when we were short-handed, including Destiny's huge offensive game. We're honored and excited to be the Team of the Week and can't wait to get back on the court this Thursday."

Military Appreciation
This Saturday's game is Military Appreciation Day. Present your current Military ID and get in free - dependents included. 

#NookNotes

• The Nanooks are 30th in the nation and fourth in the GNAC for assists per game, averaging 16.2 per game. They're led by Paola Perez-Mendoza who is seventh in the GNAC with 3.2 assists per game.
• Alaska is in the top-100 for both field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense. Offensively they are 83rd in the nation and fourth in the GNAC shooting 41.8%. Defensively they are 88th and fourth, holding opponents to 37.6% shooting.
• As a team, they're second in the GNAC and 68th in the nation for free throw attempts per game, averaging 19.75 attempts per game. They're third in the GNAC and 90th in the nation for made free throws per game at 13.3.
• In the GNAC, they're fifth in both defensive rebounds and total rebounds per game. They are averaging 27.6 defensive and 39.92 total rebounds per game. 
• Ellen Silva is leading the Nanooks in rebounding this season with 97 total rebounds, the sixth-most in the GNAC. She's also grabbing 3.2 offensive boards per game, good for 67th in the nation and the fourth-best average in the GNAC.
• Kayla Johnson joins her in the offensive rebounding category with 2.6 per game, good for 162nd in the nation and eighth in the conference. 
• Alaska has proven they can score from deep. They are 34th in NCAA Division II, shooting 35.5% from deep and are led by Emma McKenney who is third in the nation and second in the conference in three point percentage. The junior-transfer is shooting 54.5% from deep. 
• McKenney is also 12th in the NCAA Division II and leads the conference with 3.00 made three pointers per game. Sam Tolliver is 12th in the GNAC with 1.78 made threes per game. 

GNAC Standings

1. Western Washington (11-1, 5-0 GNAC)
2. Seattle Pacific (10-4, 5-1 GNAC)
3. Montana State Billings (13-4, 4-2 GNAC)
4. Simon Fraser (5-4, 3-2 GNAC)
5. Central Washington (11-4, 3-3 GNAC)
6. Northwest Nazarene (7-7, 3-3 GNAC)
7. Alaska Anchorage (10-4, 2-3 GNAC)
8. Western Oregon (7-6, 1-4 GNAC)
9. Alaska (4-8, 1-4 GNAC)
10. Saint Martin's (4-9, 0-5 GNAC)

West Region Update
Four GNAC teams appeared in the D2SIDA Women's Basketball West Region Poll this past week. Western Washington checked in at the #1-seed, receiving all five first-place votes for 50 points. Montana State Billings came in as #5 in the region receiving 27 points. Central Washington followed behind in sixth with 24 points and Seattle Pacific was ninth with 12 points. Alaska Anchorage fell out of the top-10 and received one vote in the last poll. 

View all of the regional rankings here. CLICK HERE

National Poll Update
Western Washington is the only GNAC team to crack the top-25 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Poll or the D2SIDA Women's Basketball Week Eight Poll. In the WBCA Poll, WWU checked in at #6. In the D2SIDA Poll, the Vikings were #5. 

View the entire polls here. CLICK HERE

Meet the Opponents
Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks (7-7, 3-3 GNAC)
NNU enters this Thursday's matchup riding a two-game losing streak. They fell to Simon Fraser on Thursday, Jan. 5 66-61 on their home court before falling to the nationally-ranked Vikings of Western Washington on Saturday, Jan. 7, 86-70. Their last win came on New Year's Eve at Montana State Billings - they grabbed a one-point victory over the Yellow Jackets, 80-79. Jordan Pinson made a layup with five seconds remaining in the game to secure the win for NNU over MSUB. 

NNU is led by Pinson who is scoring 12.8 points per game through 14 games and 12 starts. Pinson is shooting 38.1% from the floor, 24.6% from deep and 78.9% from the free-throw line. Her 28 steals is second on the team. She's also grabbing 2.4 rebounds per game. She is the only Nighthawk on the team with more than 20 assists with 44 on the season. Clare Eubanks is the only other NNU player in double-digits, averaging 10.8 points per game. She's shooting 47.7% from the floor and 72.6% from the free-throw line. She leads NNU with 5.4 rebounds per game and is the only Nighthawks player in double-digits with 18 blocks this season. 

Central Washington Wildcats (11-4, 3-3 GNAC)
Central enters this weekends games in Alaska riding a three-game losing streak. They've dropped the last three after starting GNAC play 3-0. On New Year's Eve they fell to Seattle Pacific on the road, 70-63. They then hosted Western Washington and Simon Fraser and battled WWU but fell 82-70 before falling to the Red Leafs 65-57. CWU currently sits in sixth-place in the D2SIDA West Region Top-10. 

The Wildcats are led by the duo of Samantha Bowman and Valerie Huerta. Bowman is averaging 20.1 points per game and 15.4 rebounds per game while shooting 57.2% from the floor, 32.4% from three and 66.7% from the line. Valerie Huerta is posting 19.2 points per game while shooting the same from the floor as she is from deep, 45.7%. She also adds an 87.2% free-throw percentage. Asher Cai is the third NNU player in double-digits with 14.3 points per game. She's also second in steals with 19, behind only Bowman with 25 and is fourth in assists with 31. 

What's to Come
The Nanooks are at home for the second-straight weekend after hosting UAA last weekend. After this home-stretch, they'll have only two more home weekends left. They head to Saint Martin's and Western Oregon next weekend before ending January at home with Western Washington and Simon Fraser. After those two, the 'Nooks are on the road until their Senior Week on Feb. 16-18 against Western Oregon and Saint Martin's. The SMU game on Feb. 18 will hold the senior's ceremony. 

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball team page on Facebook.