This holiday season will be filled with plenty of chances to watch UAA's women's basketball team.
The Seawolves will host games at the new Alaska Airlines Center around Thanksgiving and Christmas and on New Year's Day, according to the schedule that was released Wednesday.
The holiday basketball season kicks off with the GCI Great Alaska Shootout, slated for Nov. 25-26, followed by the Dec. 19-20 UAA Hoops Classic.
On New Year's Day, the Seawolves will host Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Northwest Nazarene. UAA begins its GNAC schedule in early December
The Seawolves' season opens Nov. 5 on the road at Utah, an NCAA Division I program. UAA's first games at its new home are set for Nov. 14-15.
Montana State-Billings will host the GNAC championships this season but the site of the West Region tournament was undetermined Wednesday.
Last season, UAA made the NCAA tournament and finished 19-9, losing in the first round of the West Region tournament.
GNAC to get new team
UAA will have a new Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe in the 2015-16 season.
The NCAA Division II Membership Committee accepted an application from Concordia University Portland but still needs to approve the action during its annual meeting on Monday and Tuesday.
Concordia will be the 11th full-time school in the GNAC, joining UAA, UAF, Central Washington, Montana State-Billings, Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin's, Seattle Pacific, Simon Fraser, Western Oregon and Western Washington.
Concordia participates in 15 of 16 GNAC recognized sports – football is the only program the school doesn't sponsor. Concordia will compete in men's and women's soccer, volleyball, men's and women's cross-country running, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field, men's and women's golf, softball and baseball.
"Concordia will be an excellent addition to the GNAC and Division II, and we look forward to incorporating them as a full-time member," GNAC commissioner Dave Haglund said in a news release.
UAA earns 9 athletic awards
Nine UAA athletes earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference academic awards Wednesday.
To qualify for a Faculty Athletic Representative Scholar-Athlete Award, students must maintain a 3.85 grade-point average or better through at least two years of athletic competition.
Teancum Stafford (basketball), Marie-Sophie Boggasch (gymnastics), Sarah Freistone (cross-country running), Sarah Johnson (volleyball) and Simone Penker (gymnastics) all had 4.0 GPA's, giving UAA five of the 14 athletes with a 4.0.
Other Seawolves honored included nordic skiers Anna Berecz (3.87) and Brandon Brewster (3.86) and runners Bryn Haebe (3.85) and Christi Schmitz (3.88).