By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

LACEY, Wash. – Allowing the fewest points in Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championships history on Friday night at Marcus Pavilion, No. 1 seed No. 20 Alaska Anchorage raced past No. 4 seed Western Washington 67-38 in the semifinals.
 
The Seawolves clamped down from the opening whistle rushing to a 6-0 lead, a 16-5 first quarter and never trailing on the night. UAA improved to 26-4 on the season and advanced to the GNAC Championships title game for the eighth time, where it will face the winner of No. 6 seed Saint Martin’s and No. 2 seed Montana State Billings who play in Friday’s second semifinal. “Last week happened for a reason to us, and it gave us a chance to reset and talk about the things that really matter to us,” said UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy, referring to an upset defeat against Saint Martin’s in the regular-season finale last Saturday. “I thought we did a really good job defensively against Western, and this is really hard to do to them in terms of defending them in the way we did.”
 
GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year Emilia Long led the way in her GNAC Championships debut, scoring 15 points and adding eight assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block in 26 minutes. First-team all-conference center Tori Hollingshead made 6 of 11 shots for 13 points and tied for the team high with eight rebounds, helping UAA out-board WWU 39-34. “Tonight wasn’t our best offensive night, but we really take pride in our defense and that’s where we really get our energy going,” said Long, a first-year Seawolf. “Tonight was a big defensive night for us, and the steals and defensive rebounds really got us going tonight.”
 
The GNAC regular-season champion Seawolves avenged a 75-60 loss to the Vikings in last year’s GNAC Championships semifinals – a defeat that ended their 2023-24 campaign. “Us returners – we remember that game very well,” Hollingshead said on the disappointing finish to her junior season at UAA. “A lot of us played with a chip on our shoulder. From day one we knew we wanted to win a championship, and we have done a lot of work to do that. Things are starting to come together.”
 
After UAA built an 11-point lead by the end of the first period, the advantage never dipped below double digits as it limited WWU to no more than 11 points in a quarter the rest of the night. Demi Dykstra had a team-high 15 points and five rebounds, but she was the lone Viking to reach double figures in scoring. The Vikings finished their 2024-25 campaign with a record of 18-11 overall.
 
UAA shot an efficient 45.8% (27-for-59) on the night, making 3 of 10 threes (30.0%) and 10 of 18 free throws (55.6%). The Seawolves forced the Vikings into 20 turnovers, the 24th time in 30 games their opponent has coughed it up 20 or more times.
 
Maddy Grandbois hit the Vikings’ first three of the game two minutes into the second quarter – one of three treys they converted on the evening. Mason Oberg led the team with three assists and Olivia Wikstrom matched Grandbois and Dykstra for the team high with five rebounds. WWU shot just 23.5% (12-for-51) including 3-for-17 (17.6%) from long distance. One positive for the Vikings was a mark of 84.6% (11-for-13) from the free-throw line.
 
The well-balanced Seawolves lineup featured nine points, six rebounds and three assists from senior Jazzpher Evans and eight points, eight assists, two blocks and two steals from freshman Ashlyn Rean. Elaina Mack and Hedda Koehne contributed eight points each and Jaisa Gamble had six points, three assists and three steals in 30 solid minutes off the bench. The Seawolves protected the ball well, limiting their turnovers to 11 on the evening.
 
GAME NOTES: The previous low points allowed total in the GNAC Championships was 40, achieved on two occasions by Western Washington…the last occurrence was a 51-40 win on March 4, 2015 – 10 years ago…Alaska Anchorage completed the season sweep of the Vikings, after winning both meetings between the teams in the regular season…UAA improved to 17-7 all-time in tournament games and advanced to the title contest for the seventh time…UAA is 6-1 all-time in the GNAC Championships title game…the Seawolves have competed in all 14 GNAC Championships tournaments – the only women’s or men’s team in the conference to stake that claim…UAA is now 6-1 all-time against WWU in the GNAC Championships…WWU competed in its 13th conference tournament and is now 20-9 all-time in tournament games.
 
NEXT UP: The Seawolves await the winner of No. 6 Saint Martin’s and No. 2 Montana State Billings, who tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in the other semifinal game. UAA is in pursuit of its seventh conference crown – the most of any women’s or men’s basketball program since the event began in 2011.