Following a seven-point exhibition loss to Division I UC Irvine and a last-second win over NAIA Antelope Valley in California last week, the UAA men's basketball will host its first regular-season game at the Alaska Airlines Center on Friday.
Three teams are in town for the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge, with the Seawolves facing Hawaii Pacific at 8 p.m. Friday in a game that doubles as their NCAA Division II opener. The Seawolves face Chaminade on Saturday.
Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific also play UAF at the Alaska Airlines Center this weekend.
"We get two big games this weekend against two good teams," said senior forward Jacob Lampkin, who tallied 15 points and seven rebounds against Antelope Valley. "It will be good to play at the (Alaska) Airlines Center in front of a good crowd and really see what we can do coming off the California trip."
UAA coach Rusty Osborne said he was pleased how his team played against UC Irvine — a program the Seawolves beat 77-63 in the 2011 Great Alaska Shootout — even though the Anteaters prevailed 73-66 in front of a crowd of more than 3,000.
"I think it was the most intense exhibition game I've been a part of," Osborne said. "I know they came in with a lot of respect for us."
UAA's intensity didn't carry over into Saturday's game against Antelope Valley. The Seawolves didn't score until its 18th possession and needed a 3-pointer by senior guard Maleke Haynes in the closing seconds to steal a win.
"They were a team that was better than what they looked like on paper and even on film," Osborne said. "We had a few good looks that we missed, but we were not executing our game plan. I'm a little disappointed in that."
Lamkpin said limiting the Seawolves' 17 turnovers and improving their passing are the focuses this week in practice.
"A lot of people were looking for their own shot I feel the beginning of the (Antelope Valley) game," he said. "Coach talks about moving the ball around a lot and (if) do that and I think we'll get some easy shots."
Volleyball feeling the heat
UAA will finish its volleyball season at home, which is a good thing for a team that will likely need to win its final four matches to have a shot at a fifth straight NCAA Division II tourney appearance.
The Seawolves (16-9, 11-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) suffered losses to No. 8 Western Washington, which snapped UAA's six-match winning streak, and Simon Fraser on the road last week. Simon Fraser's Saturday sweep was the program's first win over UAA.
"If we want to even have a chance to be in the NCAA tournament, we're going to have to win out, so the pressure is on," UAA coach Chris Green said. "We'll see what happens."
The Seawolves host GNAC bottom-dweller Western Oregon (6-17, 2-14) on Thursday and Concordia (11-12, 6-10) on Saturday.
"Both of them presented a challenge to us when we were on the road," Green said. "We're looking forward to coming back home and hopefully play a little better than we did on Saturday."
Hockey will try to build off 1st win
Coming off its first win of the season, the UAA hockey team is back on the road for a series at Alabama-Huntsville with games Friday at Saturday.
UAA and Alabama-Huntsville enter the series tied for eighth place in the 10-team Western Collegiate Hockey Association standings with 1-1-0 records. Bowling Green leads the conference at 3-1-2.
The Seawolves (1-6-1 overall) split a series last week with Lake Superior State.
After falling 3-2 in overtime on Friday, UAA skated to a 4-1 win Saturday behind two goals from senior winger Austin Azurdia and 34 saves from goalie Olivier Mantha, who also tallied an assist — a first by a UAA goalie since Rob Gunderson did it against Western Michigan on Oct. 18, 2013.
Mantha's next game will be his 100th as a Seawolf.
The senior from La Tuque, Quebec, Mantha already holds UAA's all-time saves record with 2,762. He needs 211 minutes to pass the school's all-time career record of 5,878, a mark held by Paul Krake (1989-92).
On the road again
The UAA women's basketball team found itself on opposite sides of two lopsided games in its first action of the season last week.
The Seawolves cruised past Johnson & Wales, a U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association team, 95-45 Thursday before falling to NCAA Division I Duke 87-56 on Sunday.
The Seawolves will face their first fellow Division II competition this week with contests against Hawaii Pacific on Friday and Cal State L.A. on Saturday at the Wildcat Crossover tournament in Ellensburg, Washington. UAA beat Hawaii Pacific 63-56 in the first round of the NCAA tourney last season.
The Seawolves will likely rely on 6-foot-2 junior forward Hannah Wandersee, who registered a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double against a much bigger Duke team.
"I'd never played against that kind of size before where they have 6-4, 6-3 posts, so of course I was a little nervous going in," Wandersee said. "Didn't really try to have too much expectations, just knew I needed to work at a whole different level. So I just tried to crash the board super hard."
VOLLEYBALL
GNAC volleyball standings
Team GNAC Overall
Western Washington 15-1 21-3
Northwest Nazarene 14-2 22-2
Central Washington 13-3 18-6
UAA 11-5 16-9
Simon Fraser 10-6 13-11
Seattle Pacific 7-9 12-12
Concordia 6-10 11-12
Montana State Billings 4-12 8-18
UAF 3-13 10-15
Saint Martin's 3-13 8-16
Western Oregon 2-14 6-17
Last week
No. 8 Wester Washington def. UAA 25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20
Simon Fraser def. UAA 25-15, 25-22, 25-17
This week
Thursday — UAA vs. Western Oregon, 7 p.m., Alaska Airlines Center
Saturday — UAA vs. Concordia, 1:30 p.m., Alaska Airlines Center
HOCKEY
Last week
Lake Superior State 3, UAA 2, OT
UAA 4, Lake Superior State 1
This week
Friday — UAA at Alabama-Huntsville, 3:07 p.m.
Saturday — UAA at Alabama-Huntsville, 3:07 p.m.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Last week
UC Irvine 73, UAA 66, exhibition
UAA 70, Antelope Valley 69
This week
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge
Alaska Airlines Center
Friday — Chaminade vs. UAF, 5:30 p.m.; UAA vs. Hawaii Pacific, 8 p.m.
Saturday — Hawaii Pacific vs. UAF, 5:30 p.m.; UAA vs. Chaminade, 8 p.m.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Last week
UAA 95, Johnson & Wales 45
Duke 87, UAA 56, exhibition
This week
Wildcat Crossover Tournament
Ellensburg, Washington
Friday — UAA vs. Hawaii Pacific, 11 a.m.
Saturday — UAA vs. Cal State L.A., noon
CROSS COUNTRY
Last week
UAA women second, men sixth at NCAA Division II West Region championships