Wednesday, March 1, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – After finishing the regular season as the NCAA Division II scoring leader with 23.1 points per game for Western Washington, senior guard Taylor Peacocke was named the 2016-17 GNAC Player of the Year, leading the selections to the 2016-17 All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Team.

Peacocke led the Vikings to an 24-4 overall record and an 18-2 record in GNAC play to earn the No. 2 seed in this week’s GNAC Championships. The Kenmore, Wash., native broke the GNAC’s single season scoring record for conference games with 468 points and is 105 points away from becoming the all-time career leading scorer in the GNAC.

Peacocke had a timely best single-game performance when the Vikings traveled to Simon Fraser, when the two nationally-ranked teams were tied for second place in the GNAC standings. The senior scored 41 points, making 13 of 19 shots from the field and 5 of 8 from beyond the arc while going a perfect 10 for 10 at the charity stripe. She also chipped in four rebounds, three assists and two steals to defeat the Clan.

Fifth year head coach from Alaska Anchorage, Ryan McCarthy, was named the GNAC Coach of the Year after guiding the Seawolves through an undefeated regular season against Division II opponents. After graduating seven seniors from last year’s national runner-up squad, the Seawolves have performed even better this regular season with a 27-1 record and the lone loss coming against Division I Portland. The Seawolves won a program record 23 consecutive games to wrap up the regular season and recorded the first 20-0 conference record in GNAC history.

The Seawolves’ record-breaking season happened in large part due to the addition of Univ. of Little Rock transfer Autummn Williams, who was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year. In her first year in the league, Williams, who was also a First Team All-GNAC selection, has been the conference’s second-leading scorer with 21.1 points per game. She was a four-time GNAC Player of the Week selection and led the Seawolves in scoring in all of the last 16 games during the 23-game winning streak.

Williams recorded one of her best performances of the regular season against Western Washington with the conference title on the line when she matched Player of the Year Peacocke shot for shot as both seniors tallied 31 points. Williams scored 10 of her points in the two overtime periods, which proved to be enough to lead UAA to a 75-72 victory to clinch a third consecutive GNAC regular season title.

Seawolves' senior guard Kiki Robertson was named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous selection to the second team. Robertson leads an Alaska Anchorage defense that ranks third in the nation in scoring defense and first in steals per game. Individually, the GNAC’s all-time career steals leader ranks sixth in the nation in steals with 3.4 per game, which also leads the GNAC. Her 96 steals this season is approaching the all-time GNAC record of 105, a record that has stood for more than a decade. Robertson is receiving her fourth all-conference recognition.

Simon Fraser finished the regular season third in the GNAC standings and was represented by Freshman of the Year Ozi Nwabuko along with its senior duo on the first team, Ellen Kett and Meg Wilson. As a freshman, Nwabuko led the GNAC in field-goal percentage, making 96 of 162 shots. The freshman had to earn her minutes on the court to start her collegiate career, but quickly became an indispensable part of the Clan’s lineup after leading the team in scoring in four consecutive games in November. She is averaging 8.2 points per game and has grabbed a team-high 57 offensive boards.

Kett is the lone repeat first-team selection after rebreaking her GNAC single season records for assists and assists per game during conference play. The Melbourne, Australia native also broke the GNAC’s single game assists record with 20, which helped her smash the single season assists record for all games, becoming the first player ever to eclipse 200, doing so with 234 in the regular season.

Wilson is the Clan’s leading scorer with 14.7 points per game, including 26 points in the second game of the season against Augustana. Wilson also has team-highs of 70 steals and 161 rebounds to go along with 26 blocks.

Senior Tia Briggs joined Peacocke on the First Team All-GNAC after leading the Vikings in rebounding with an average of 6.5 per game during the regular season. She also averages 12.9 points per game to go along with 15 blocks and 54 assists. Against Seattle Pacific, Briggs recorded her third double-double of the season with team-highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds to defeat the Falcons and make the Vikings the winningest program in conference games in GNAC women’s basketball history.

After being an honorable mention as a freshman and a second-team selection as a junior, Alaska’s Jordan Wilson is an All-GNAC First Team selection this year. The GNAC’s all-time field goals leader averaged 21 points per game and had three consecutive games against non-conference opponents in which she scored exactly 30 points, which was followed by a 28-point performance for a 73-71 victory against Stanislaus State.

Central Washington’s Jasmin Edwards is the only player not in her senior season to be a unanimous selection. The Second Team All-GNAC honoree for a third year in a row led the Wildcats to an improbable run to the GNAC Championships that included two overtime victories in what amounted to must-win games.

2016-17 GNAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM