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FAIRBANKS -- Last season, Alaska Anchorage ended the women’s basketball seasons for Chico State and Sonoma State by defeating them at the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Early this season, the Alaska Nanooks hope to continue that trend by topping the California schools at the Coslet Classic in Chico.

The Nanooks meet Sonoma State at 4:30 p.m. on Friday and Chico State at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the 36th annual tournament. In an unusual scheduling arrangement, Alaska will also take on Chico in a non-tournament game at 6 tonight in the Wildcats’ season opener.

“That was on the schedule when I got here,” Alaska first-year coach Darryl Smith said by cell phone Wednesday en route to an hour-long practice. “I don’t know why that was scheduled this way.”

Though it’s challenging, playing high-caliber teams on three successive nights is a positive, Smith said.

“It’s a great opportunity to find out where we’re at right now,” he said.

Behind a career-high 17 points from sophomore forward Nicole Bozek, the Nanooks beat Georgian Court 60-54 in a sloppy opener last Friday in Fairbanks. But Alaska needs to play more physical against the Wildcats and hit the glass harder, Smith said.

“When we rebound, we can run,” he said. “The key to this team ... will be our willingness and ability to rebound.”

Last Nov. 24 in Fairbanks at the North Star Invitational, the Nanooks rebounded from a 16-point halftime deficit against Chico — then ranked 15th nationally - to grab the lead with five minutes remaining before falling 74-65.

Though the locale has changed, the Nanooks are not intimidated going up against the tradition-rich basketball school.

“I think the kids kind of feel like they know that they can play with them,” Smith said.

Chico State has reached the NCAA Tournament six straight years, including last year’s 28-6 mark that tied a school record for wins in a season. The Wildcats are preseason favorites to win their third California Collegiate Athletic Association title in four seasons.

Senior center Renee Goldoff led the team with 6.2 rebounds a game and was second with 10.4 points per outing last season.

New coach Brian Fogel’s team has played a pair of exhibitions against exceedingly tough competition, falling 123-39 against Stanford and 95-51 against California. Both schools play in the Pac-10 Conference and are ranked among the Top 10 in Division I.

“I wasn’t complaining about us not playing Stanford,” Smith quipped.

Meanwhile, Sonoma State has lost the top three scorers from its 20-10 team of a year ago. Led by 20 points from newcomer junior forward Katie Keilig, the Seawolves opened their season last Saturday with a 74-68 home win over Academy of Art University.

The trip to California is a homecoming of sorts for three Nanooks -- Riverside natives La-Quita Jordan and Ronisha Edwards, who played together last season at San Bernardino Valley College, and Smith, a San Jose native.

“My parents and some of my family will be here (today),” Smith said.

Following this weekend’s games, the Nanooks return home Nov. 27-29 to host the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational at the Patty Center. The round-robin tournament includes 10th-ranked Holy Family, UC San Diego and Hawaii Pacific.

Men’s assistant interviews

Gerald Kassin and D’Arcy Stanfield are the finalists for the vacant assistant men’s basketball coach position and will be interviewed today and Friday, respectively, in Fairbanks.

Kassin is a former coach at Western Oklahoma State College while Stanfield currently is the boys basketball coach and athletic director at Percy Julian High School in Chicago.

Head coach Clemon Johnson, associate athletic director Patrick Lee and compliance director/senior woman administrator Pamm Hubbard will conduct the interviews, Hubbard said. A conditional offer will hopefully be made next week, she said.