Great Alaska Shootout

The Great Alaska Shootout is an annual women's college basketball tournament in Anchorage, Alaska that features host University of Alaska Anchorage and three visiting NCAA Division I teams. The four-team tournament resumed in 2022 following a four-year layoff. The women's Shootout was started in 1980 and ran through 1997 as the Northern Lights Invitational, featuring either four- or eight-team fields and playing at the UAA Sports Center. Following a one-year absence, the tournament was renamed and run along with the men's Great Alaska Shootout every Thanksgiving week from 1999 to 2017. The tournament was held at Sullivan Arena from 1999 to 2013 and moved to the Alaska Airlines Center in 2014.

In 2022, the four-team women's tournament was reborn with co-sponsorship by Arctic Slope Regional Corporation and ConocoPhillips Alaska.

Men's history The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) hosted the tournament every Thanksgiving from 1978 to 2017. Tournament games were played at the Alaska Airlines Center, a new arena on the UAA campus, from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, games were played at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage from 1983 to 2013 and at Buckner Field House on Fort Richardson from 1978 to 1982. The men's tournament included eight teams (with the exception of a six-team field in 2009).

The tournament was one of the longest-running tournaments in college basketball history, lasting for 40 years, and brought the highest level of collegiate basketball to Alaska. The Shootout was held Thanksgiving weekend.

Under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules, teams are normally limited to approximately 28 regular-season games. However, games in "exempted events," traditionally played early in the season, are not counted against that limit. The most recent policy from the NCAA in this regard allows all teams to play in one exempted event per season. Those teams who choose to take advantage of that opportunity may play up to thirty-one games per season, including games played in those exempted events but excluding postseason tournament games. A previous version of the rule allowed for all games played outside the United States mainland to be exempt from the then-27-game limit. This version was partly responsible for the genesis of tournaments such as Great Alaska Shootout.

The Great Alaska Shootout began in 1978 as the brainchild of former UAA men's basketball coach Bob Rachal. Raycom Sports first picked up the broadcast rights to the tournament in 1979, and ESPN began broadcasting it in 1985.

On August 26, 2017, it was announced that the 2017 men's Shootout would be the last. The University of Alaska Anchorage stopped funding it as newer tournaments were drawing away top teams to warmer locations.

Past champions, runners-up and MVPs

Men's tournament The following table indicates the winners, runners-up and tournament most valuable players (MVPs).

YearWinnerScoreOpponentTournament MVP1978North Carolina State72–66LouisvilleClyde Austin, NC State1979Kentucky57–50IonaJeff Ruland, Iona1980North Carolina64–58ArkansasScott Hastings, Arkansas1981Southwestern Louisiana81–64MarquetteSteve Burtt, Iona1982Louisville80–70VanderbiltLancaster Gordon, Louisville1983North Carolina State65–60ArkansasJoe Kleine, Arkansas1984UAB50–46KansasSteve Mitchell, UAB1985North Carolina65–60UNLVBrad Daugherty, North Carolina1986Iowa103–80NortheasternRoy Marble, Iowa1987Arizona80–69SyracuseSean Elliott, Arizona1988Seton Hall92–81KansasChris Mills, Kentucky1989Michigan State73–68Kansas StateSteve Smith, Michigan State1990UCLA89–74VirginiaDon MacLean, UCLA1991Massachusetts68–56Jim McCoy, Massachusetts1992New Mexico State95–94IllinoisSam Crawford, New Mexico State1993Purdue88–73Glenn Robinson, Purdue1994Minnesota79–74BYUTownsend Orr, Minnesota1995Duke88–81IowaRay Allen, Connecticut1996Kentucky92–65College of CharlestonRon Mercer, Kentucky1997North Carolina73–69PurdueAntawn Jamison, North Carolina1998Cincinnati77–75DukeWilliam Avery, Duke1999Kansas84–70Drew Gooden, Kansas2000Syracuse84–62MissouriPreston Shumpert, Syracuse2001Marquette72–63GonzagaDwyane Wade, Marquette2002College of Charleston71–69Troy Wheless, College of Charleston200378–68DukeKenneth Lowe, Purdue2004Washington79–76AlabamaNate Robinson, Washington2005Marquette92–89 (OT)South CarolinaSteve Novak, Marquette2006California78–70Loyola MarymountRyan Anderson, California2007Butler81–71Texas TechMike Green, Butler2008San Diego State76–47HamptonKyle Spain, San Diego State2009Washington State93–56San DiegoKlay Thompson, Washington State2010St. John's67–58Arizona StateJustin Brownlee, St. John's2011Murray State90–81 (2OT)Southern MississippiIsaiah Canaan, Murray State2012Charlotte67–59NortheasternPierria Henry, Charlotte2013Harvard71–50TCUWesley Saunders, Harvard2014Colorado State65–63UC Santa BarbaraAlan Williams, UC Santa Barbara2015Middle Tennessee78–70ToledoNathan Boothe, Toledo2016Iona75–73NevadaSam Cassell Jr, Iona2017Central Michigan75–72Cal State BakersfieldShawn Roundtree, Central Michigan

Women's tournament The following table indicates the winners, runners up and tournament MVPs.

YearWinnerScoreOpponentTournament MVP1980Iowa73–52Alaska AnchorageCindy Haugejorde, Iowa1981San Diego State50–41HoustonDiena Pels, San Diego State1982Minnesota70–66IndianaLaura Coenen, Minnesota1983Old Dominion76–53Wichita StateLorri Bauman, Drake1984Texas82–60UNLVAnnette Smith, Texas1985Louisiana Tech88–69Penn StateDawn Royster, North Carolina1986Northeast Louisiana70–68USCLisa Ingram, Northeast Louisiana1987New Orleans84–61Memphis StateKunshinge Sorrell, Mississippi State1988South Carolina98–97 (OT)UNLVMartha Parker, South Carolina1989Stephen F. Austin96–81Old DominionConnie Cole, Stephen F. Austin1990Alaska Anchorage88–87South AlabamaDiane Dobrich, Alaska Anchorage1991Northern Illinois63–60LouisvilleLisa Foss, Northern Illinois1992Penn State83–62Missouri-Kansas CitySusan Robinson, Penn State1993Hawai'iN/A1SMUValerie Agee, Hawai'i19942Rhode IslandN/A1Northeast LouisianaDayna Smith, Rhode Island19942Clemson79–62UCLATara Saunooke, Clemson1995South Carolina83–71Arizona StateShannon Johnson, South Carolina1996Georgia72–55OregonTracy Henderson, Georgia1997Tennessee87–66WisconsinChamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee1998 No tournament1999Kansas78–68LouisvilleLynn Pride, Kansas2000Ohio State95–60Rhode IslandJaime Lewis, Ohio State2001Iowa90–73GonzagaLindsey Meder, Iowa2002Nevada68–56IndianaLaura Ingham, Nevada2003Alaska Anchorage61–58ClemsonKamie Jo Massey, Alaska Anchorage2004Stanford67–47Louisiana-LafayetteCandice Wiggins, Stanford2005Central Connecticut State69–65 (OT)ArizonaGabriella Guegbelet, Central Connecticut State2006Alaska Anchorage78–70UC RiversideRebecca Kielpinski, Alaska Anchorage2007Alaska Anchorage52–50Santa ClaraRebecca Kielpinski, Alaska Anchorage2008Alaska Anchorage58–57SyracuseRebecca Kielpinski, Alaska Anchorage2009Alaska Anchorage49–48CincinnatiNicci Miller, Alaska Anchorage2010Kent State53–47Alaska AnchorageJamilah Humes, Kent State2011Miami92–72South FloridaShenise Johnson, Miami2012Utah State67–57Alaska AnchorageDevyn Christensen, Utah State2013Georgetown92–78Alaska AnchorageAndrea White, Georgetown2014Long Beach State69–60Alaska AnchorageMegan Mullings, Alaska Anchorage2015Western Kentucky62–58Alaska AnchorageKendall Noble, Western Kentucky2016USC67–54PortlandKristen Simon, USC2017Alaska Anchorage59–53TulsaShelby Cloninger, Alaska Anchorage2018 Not held2019202020212022Alaska Anchorage88–75La SalleVishe' Rabb, Alaska Anchorage2023Utah117–72Eastern KentuckyAlissa Pili, Utah2024Troy86–69North Dakota StateShaulana Wagner, Troy2025UC Irvine63–55St. ThomasJada Wynn, UC Irvine 1Tournament was played in a round robin format. 2The tournament was moved to earlier in the season beginning in the 1994–95 season; hence the first 1994 tournament corresponds to the 1993–94 season and the second tournament to the 1994–95 season.

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