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FAIRBANKS — A pair of teams that played in last year’s NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament highlight the field for this week’s Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational hosted by the Alaska Nanooks.

The Holy Family Tigers, ranked 10th in this year’s Division II preseason poll, and the UC San Diego Tritons, along with the Hawaii Pacific Sea Warriors, will invade the Patty Center for three days of hoops action.

The tournament used to be a two-day affair, but has been expanded into a three-day, round-robin event this year, running Thursday through Saturday.

That means there will be a basketball doubleheader on Thanksgiving Day with San Diego taking on Holy Family at 5:30 p.m., followed by host Alaska going up against Hawaii Pacific at 8 p.m.

Friday and Saturday’s action shifts to the afternoon to avoid conflict with the Nanook hockey team’s Central Collegiate Hockey Association games against the Lake Superior State Lakers that are scheduled for 7:35 p.m. at the Carlson Center.

Friday’s basketball games feature San Diego against Hawaii Pacific at 2 p.m. and Alaska against Holy Family at 4:30 p.m.

Saturday’s schedule calls for Holy Family to play Hawaii Pacific at 2 p.m. and Alaska faces San Diego at 4:30 p.m.

Holy Family went 33-1 last season, its only loss coming to Franklin Pierce in the NCAA regional championship game. The Tigers are 3-1 so far this season with their only loss coming against the West Haven (Conn.) Chargers, 69-68. Holy Family also has a 65-57 exhibition win over Division I Buffalo to its credit.

UC San Diego is coming off a 25-10 season. The Tritons lost to Seattle Pacific in the NCAA West Regional semifinals. The Tritons are 1-1 this year, losing to Seattle Pacific, 63-59, and beating Western Washington, 60-52, in games last weekend at Bellingham, Wash. UCSD went 1-2 in exhibition games.

Hawaii Pacific is 1-1 this year, losing 90-75 to Arkansas-Monticello and beating Whitworth University, 91-71.

Alaska has a 1-3 record coming into the tournament. The Nanooks opened the season by defeating Georgian Court, then lost three games in California last week — two to Chico State and one to Sonoma State. Both of those teams played in the Division II West Regional last year.

Tournament tickets

Tickets for each two-game session are $10 for adults, $9 for Alaska alumni, faculty and staff, and $4 for youths age 9-18. Alaska students and students in eighth grade or younger accompanied by a paying adult are admitted free.

Tournament packages for all three sessions are available for $24.

Family packages for the entire tournament that include two adult passes and two youth passes are available for $60, with each additional youth costing $8. Session family passes are available for $24, and each additional youth is $3.

For more information on tickets, call 474-5977.

Tournament luncheon

A tournament luncheon, featuring all four teams and their coaches, is scheduled for noon Thursday at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge Edgewater Room.

Tickets are $25. To make reservations, call 590-5086.

Contact the News-Miner sports department at 459-7581.