ANCHORAGE — Jessica Madison is still a scorer.
“Jessica, she’s such a talented offensive player, from Day 1 she was given the green light,” Ryan McCarthy, her coach at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, said last week.
“That Madison family, I think they all get the green light. They can hoop in that family.”
Madison graduated from Port Angeles High School in 2011 as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,896 points.
She has averaged double figures in three of her four years at Alaska-Anchorage. Her freshman year was the only year she fell short, but just barely, at 9.6 points per game, and that was enough for her to be named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s freshman of the year.
She is averaging 10.4 points this season, and has raised that averaged to 13.6 during the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament, which concludes with the championship game between Alaska-Anchorage and Lubbock Christian at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Monday.
But she isn’t only a scorer. She also defends, and going back as far as her freshman season, she has been relied on at times to be a defensive stopper for the Seawolves.
“When you have a reputation as a shooter, people automatically think, ‘If they can shoot it, they can’t defend,’” McCarthy said.
“That’s not the case with Jessica. She can really guard, she can really defend.”
Defense is an important component of playing for Alaska-Anchorage. Since taking over the program in 2012-13, Madison’s redshirt freshman season, McCarthy has the Seawolves playing a style called “mayhem.”
Players play shorter stretches at a time (which leads to less minutes: Madison ranks second on the team at 23.7 minutes per game), and they full-court press the entire game.
“You go in for a certain amount of time, you need to give it your best, and then you come out,” Madison said.
“It’s a really fun way of playing. It’s up and down, in your face.”
It’s also quite demanding.
McCarthy said that at some of the earliest practices of his tenure he noticed Madison struggling through the workouts.
Turns out, all she needed was an inhaler.
“I was having trouble breathing and stuff,” Madison said.
“I found out I have exercise-induced asthma. It didn’t bother me before, but this is the fist time I’ve done sprint and track workouts.”
Madison has been able to see the mayhem develop from scratch over the past four years.
She watched the Seawolves reached the Elite Eight as a redshirt in 2012. But the program had problems, and was forced by the NCAA to forfeit many of its wins from that season.
That’s when McCarthy was hired. But the program was depleted. Only seven players remained, so he had to recruit a few intramural players just so the Seawolves could have proper practices.
Alaska-Anchorage won 17 games McCarthy’s first year, Madison’s freshman season. The next season, the team won 19 and made it to the NCAA Tournament.
Last year, the program was really rolling. The Seawolves were 29-1 and ranked No. 1 in the nation going into the NCAA Tournament, which it opened on their home court.
But they lost in the first round to Point Loma 64-63.
“I told the girls after that loss — and it hurt all of us, it was devastating, like breaking up with someone — every championship team has a story, and ours is being written,” McCarthy said.
“I think that loss put a chip on everybody’s shoulder.”
Madison said the disappointing setback gave the players “extra motivation.”
Many players, including Madison, for the first time stuck around Anchorage in the offseason rather than return to their hometowns.
“That was a very tough loss,” Madison said.
“I think, though, it kind of set the scene for this year. We wanted to go back, make the tournament, possibly host [games], and advance past the first round.”
The Seawolves (38-2) didn’t host any tournament games this season, but they have torn through their five games so far, winning three by more than 20 points and another by 15.
Madison has led the team in scoring in three of the five games. Her hot shooting has helped Alaska-Anchorage build its large leads.
“She’s been shooting a lot better,” McCarthy said. “She hit a little bit of a slump at the end of the season. I guess she saved all those makes for the postseason.
“She’s been critical for us in our run because she’s been able to shoot the ball so well in the postseason.
“We do have quite a few shooters on this team, but because Jessica plays such a big role, we’re really hard to beat when she’s shooting it well from the perimeter.”
Family following
Madison isn’t just the best scorer in Port Angeles girls basketball history, she’s top scorer overall, boys and girls.
She became the all-time leading scorer by passing up her brother James, who finished his high school career with 1,702 points, during her senior year.
James, who lives in Ohio, is planning to be at Monday’s game. It will be his first time seeing his sister play in college. His wife and eight kids drove to see the Seawolves in the Elite Eight and Final Four in Sioux Falls, S.D., but James had to work.
Madison’s parents, Guy and Michelle, have been following the Seawolves throughout the NCAA Tournament, and will be in Indianapolis on Monday.
It should be a nice cheering section for the final and biggest game of Madison’s basketball career.
She’s been playing some of the best basketball of her career and is one of the top players on a team playing for a national championship.
“I just think that I’m playing with a lot of confidence right now and just knowing that every game could be my last,” Madison, who is finishing up her justice degree with a minor in psychology, said.
“I was talking to my teammate Jenna [Buchanan, a fellow senior], we said, ‘No matter what, this game is going to be our last game. Not matter what, are careers are over.’
“I think that gives us extra motivation.”
How to watch
Monday’s game tips off at noon. It will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network. Those with Wave Broadband can watch the game on channel 313 (or 181 in high definition). On Dish Network, it is on channel 158, and DirecTV it is on 221.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
