The University of Alaska Fairbanks women’s basketball team will open the Amy Donovan era with three games in Colorado this week.
The Nanooks head to Colorado to face off against UCCS before heading to Pueblo, Colo. to participate in the Al Kaly Classic, facing off against host CSU-Pueblo and Colorado Christian University.
Amy Donovan takes over as the head coach and joins the Nanooks after spending 2018-21 as an assistant with NCAA Division I program Weber State.
She earned her bachelor’s in the Ivy League from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the Penn basketball program.
The Nanooks return eight players from last season, headlined by Pearle Green, Destiny Reimers and Ellen Silva.
Green returns for her sophomore year after a GNAC All-Conference honorable mention with 14.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists while hitting three three-pointers per game. Reimers returns for her sophomore year after averaging 11.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game in her freshman season. Finally, Silva returns for the Nanooks after a solid freshman campaign averaging 5.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in just 20 minutes per game.
UAF adds four fresh faces this season, including three transfers in 5-8 sophomore guard Jayda Van Dyke from Independence Community College, 5-6 junior guard Emma McKenney from Lane Community College and 5-8 sophomore guard Taylor Tiulana from Anchorage. Joining the transfers is the lone incoming freshman, 5-10 forward Kayla Johnson from Federal Way, Wash.
The Nanooks were picked 10th in the GNAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. They earned 15 points and rounded out the poll after a 3-20, 2-15 GNAC record a season ago.