Bethany Carstens, a 2019 graduate of Nikiski High School, is already playing women’s basketball for the University of Nevada after transferring from Chicago State after last season.

According to the Alaska Sports Blog at the Alaska Hall of Fame, Carstens was going to have to sit out this season due to NCAA rules governing a transfer from one Division I school to another.

However, on Dec. 16 the NCAA issued a waiver that allowed some transfer players to play this season. The waiver gives teams more flexibility in the time of the new coronavirus pandemic. Players have to be transferring for the first time from a four-year institution and be enrolled full time for the fall semester of 2020.

Carstens made her debut for the Wolf Pack on Dec. 18, playing a minute and missing a 3-pointer. Dec. 21, she played 28 minutes at St. Mary’s (California) and went 3 of 9 from the floor, including 2 of 9 from distance, in scoring eight points. She also had a pair of steals. Nevada lost the contest 68-63 to fall to 4-1 on the season.

As a freshman at Chicago State, Carstens started 17 of 27 games. She hit .388 of her 3-point attempts and her 12.3 points per game were second on the team.

Oldham transfers to Clarkson

Anchorage’s Kris Oldham, a former player for the Kenai River Brown Bears, is seeing time in net this year at Division I Clarkson University.

Oldham played his first game for the Bears in the 2012-13 season, then played 23 games the next season, with a 3.17 goals-against average and .901 save percentage. He then played two seasons for the Omaha (Nebraska) Lancers of the United States Hockey League before committing to Division I University of Nebraska-Omaha. He transferred to Clarkson after his second season in Omaha, sitting out the 2018-19 season due to transfer rules.

Last season, he saw action for Clarkson in one game. This season, he is 4-1 and has appeared in five games. He has a goals-allowed average of 2.50 and a save percentage of .908. Clarkson is 5-3 this season.