Anchorage Daily News

The dynamic UAA women's basketball crawled up one more notch on Tuesday to become the No. 2-ranked Division II team in the nation.

Never before have the Seawolf women, who advanced to the Final Four last season, been ranked so high. They received 644 points in the USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Poll.

One voter considered UAA (13-1) the top team in the country, but 26 voted for undefeated defending national champion Northern Kentucky, which racked up 674 points. Northern Kentucky squeaked by Bellarmine 60-53 on Friday and Kentucky Wesleyan 71-55 two days later to improve to 11-0 this season.

Three starters from Northern Kentucky's national championship team returned this season.

Meanwhile, UAA demolished outclassed Kuyper College, a small Christian university in Michigan, by an average of 55 points during two games last weekend. In coach Tim Moser's phenomenal three seasons at the helm, UAA has won 85 percent of its games.

The Seawolves, who open league play on the road against St. Martins on Thursday, have only one player, Nicci Miller, averaging in double digits. Miller scores 12.2 points per game, but eight of her teammates average better than 4.5 points a game in UAA's balanced attack.

"I'm just happy to be with this team," said senior center Rebecca Kielpinski, who on Saturday tied UAA's individual record for career wins with 79. "You can't waste something like this.

"I'm trying to go game by game because this is the end for me. I want to savor it and take all the memories."

A road game against St. Martins (8-3) will be the Seawolves' biggest test since winning the Great Alaska Shootout. Saint Martin's is 3-1 on its home court this season, losing 72-64 to Cal State Dominguez Hills in its last game.

An NCAA qualifier last spring, the Saints are led by 5-foot-10 sophomore forward Dara Zack, who's averaging 13.8 points on 52 percent shooting and adding 9.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists each game. Sharpshooting junior guard Jamey Gelhar is averaging 12.2 points while shooting 54 percent on her three-pointers.

Only one other team in UAA's Great Northwest Athletic Conference made the top 25. Seattle Pacific (7-2) can in at No. 18.

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