Seawolves punch ticket to GNAC title game with win over Western Washington

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - University of Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball is off to the Great Northwest Athletic conference title game after a dominant win Friday over Western Washington.

The Seawolves cruised to victory in the tournament’s semifinal, defeating the Vikings 67-38.

Emelia Long led the way offensively, wracking up 15 points and eight assists. Tori Hollingshed also made her presence known, putting up 13 points of her own. She and Ashlyn Rean controlled the board with eight rebounds each. King Cove’s Elaina Mack added eight points too.

Ball control was a key in this matchup as well. The Seawolves picked off 11 steals compared to just one from the Vikings, winning the turnover battle 11-20.

UAA will now play in the championship game on Saturday against Saint Martin’s University.

This comes after UAA brought home a lot of regular season hardware. Seawolves head coach Mike McCarthy was named GNAC Coach of the Year for the sixth time after leading the team to a 25-4 record and 16-2 overall in conference.

Hollingshed was named a unanimous First Team All-GNAC selection after being named to the Second Team in 2024. Long, in her first year with the program after transferring from Cal Poly Humboldt, was named GNAC Newcomer and Defensive Player of the Year after leading Division II in steals per game.

Mack, Rean and Jazzpher Evans were also named GNAC honorable mentions.

The GNAC Title game begins Friday at 6:30 p.m. AKST from Lacey, Washington. A win would give UAA an automatic qualifier into the NCAA DII West Regional bracket. The Seawolves last won the GNAC Championship in 2020.

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