Tuesday, January 7, 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. – New year, same Tuesday night plans. GNAC Insider returned at 7 p.m. (PT) for its first episode of 2020. As basketball conference play heats up again, the episode featured two of the conference’s top players.

One of the top two-way players in women’s basketball this season, Northwest Nazarene senior guard Marina Valles joined the show. With Valles being the primary playmaker on both sides of the ball, the Nighthawks lead the conference in scoring offense (78.9 points per game), steals (16.3 per game) and turnover margin (+10.17).

Valles is averaging 14.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game in her 2019-20 campaign. She is fifth in the GNAC in scoring and eighth with a .516 field goal percentage while leading the conference and ranking fourth in Division II with 46 steals and 3.83 steals per game.

The reigning GNAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, Seattle Pacific freshman forward Shaw Anderson also joined the show. Anderson averaged 22 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting 61.5 percent from the field as the Falcons extended their winning streak to eight games with home conference wins over Alaska Anchorage and Alaska last week to earn the first Team of the Week award for 2020.

Anderson’s week included a career-high 33 points to go with nine rebounds and three assists in Saturday’s 86-68 victory over the Nanooks. He made 12 of 16 from the field, 4 of 5 from three-point range and 5 of 6 from the free throw line.

You can listen live to GNAC Insider at this link or hear every episode at your convenience wherever you get your podcasts.

GNAC Insider is available free at Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify and Stitcher.