Time to get serious.
With more than two months and a dozen games behind them, the UAA men's and women's basketball teams begin the critical portion of the season tonight when they open play in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. What happens in the conference will go a long way in determining what happens to the Seawolves in the post-season.
For the women, the postseason is all but a given -- they're ranked second in the nation among NCAA Division II teams and are 13-1 with an 11-game winning streak. But the high ranking and the run of victories makes UAA the team everyone wants to beat, so the Seawolves can't relax as they hit the road.
Coach Tim Moser is taking all 12 players to this week's conference openers at Saint Martin's tonight in Lacey, Wash., and Western Oregon Saturday in Monmouth, Ore. Almost everyone on the roster logs minutes on a team that likes to press and run.
St. Martin's is 8-3 but coming off its first home-court loss of the season, a 72-64 setback to Cal State Dominquez Hills. Western Oregon is 5-6 with losses to a pair of Division I opponents Southern Utah and Oregon State. UAA's record includes wins over D-I teams Syracuse and Cal State Northridge.
UAA men open league play with a pair of tough matchups at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. They play Northwest Nazarene tonight and Central Washington on Saturday, and both visitors are capable of leaving with a victory.
Northwest Nazarene is 8-2 and riding a four-game winning streak. The Crusaders boast a pair of big sophomores, 6-foot-10 center Brian Barkdoll (12.9 points a game, 5.5 rebounds a game) and 6-7 forward Kendall Gielow (13.8 points, 5.7 rebounds), an all-GNAC honorable mention pick as a freshman last season.
Central Washington is 6-2, the pick of coaches to win the GNAC this season and was ranked nationally until a road loss to Dixie State last month.
The Wildcats bring an All-America candidate to town in Jake Beitinger, a 6-8 senior forward who earned first-team all-GNAC honors and second-team all-West Region honors last season. He's averaging 17 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.8 rebounds a game. In the backcourt, 6-5 guard Matt Penoncello averages 15.5 points, 6 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Wildcats.
The Seawolves are 6-7 after three straight victories. Brandon Walker, a sophomore guard who moved into the starting lineup for blowout victories last week against Lincoln Christian, has put up some impressive individual efforts lately, including a 17-rebound game Saturday, the same night guard Lonnie Ridgeway turned in a career-high 22 points.
Anchorage Daily News
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