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Thursday, Feb. 2

Men's Basketball: Vikings Edge Western Oregon In OT

Steve White helped lead Alaska Anchorage past SPU

Western Washington let a late lead slip away, but recovered to defeat Western Oregon 89-81 in overtime at the New P.E. Building in Monmouth Thursday extending its win streak to six games.

The win kept the Vikings (19-3, 10-1) one-half game ahead of second-place Alaska Anchorage (16-4, 10-2), which won its fifth in a row beating Seattle Pacific 78-69 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Senior guard Steve White helped key UAA's win with 15 points and five assists.

Montana State Billings (13-7, 8-4) also extended its win streak to four with a 75-64 road win at Alaska Fairbanks to move into a tie for third-place in the GNAC with Seattle Pacific (16-5, 8-4).

Simon Fraser (7-12, 2-9), meanwhile, got a half-court buzzer beater from Justin Brown to defeat Saint Martin's 88-85 at Marcus Pavilion.

Allen

Western Washington, ranked No.16 in this week's NABC Top 25 Poll, avenged its only conference loss of the season (an 83-73 defeat to WOU in Bellingham on Jan. 7) as John Allen led the way with 19 points.

Guard Kyle Long paced the Wolves with a game-high 26 points, including a fastbreak layin with five seconds left that forced overtime. Guard Blair Wheadon added 23 points.

Wheadon also had four steals to become just the fourth player in GNAC history to record 200 or more in a career. He now has 202.

The Vikings, who led by as much as 16 in the second half, had a 12-point lead (74-62) with five minutes left, but the Wolves (14-7, 7-5) ran off eight straight points to close the gap to four, then eventually pulled to within two (76-74) with 1:17 to go on a layup by James Gehring.

WWU then missed three shots, the final one with 10 seconds left. Gehring rebounded and threw an outlet pass to Long, who drove the length of the floor to tie the game.

WOU had an 80-77 lead early in overtime, but the Vikings took over, scoring on their next four possessions to grab an 85-80 lead with 1:13 left. Two free throws each by Richard Woodworth and Allen preserved the triumph.

Woodworth had 16 points, all of them after halftime.  The Vikings' Rory Blanche contributed 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Chris Mitchell had 12 points and Zach Henifin added 11.

The Vikings were seven of seven on three-pointers in the first half, and finished 12 of 18 tying a school-record for a game by hitting 66.7 percent of their treys.

Alaska Anchorage 78, Seattle Pacific 69

White lead a balanced scoring effort and help No. 21 Alaska Anchorage to a nine-point victory over Seattle Pacific.

In addition to White's 15, UAA also got 16 points and three assists from Travis Thompson as it earned a regular-season split with the Falcons. It's the seventh year in a row the two teams have split their games.

Seattle Pacific was led by game-highs of 22 points and seven assists from David Downs, but the Falcons were unable to dig out of an early hole and lost its seventh straight game at the WFSC.

The home team has now won the last 13 games in a series that includes 62 all-time meetings.

The Seawolves got off to a good start when Colton Lauwers and Kyle Fossman combined for three three-pointers in the first three minutes, and Abebe Demissie hit a jumper to make it 18-6 before the first official timeout.

Lauwers finished with his highest-scoring game since Dec. 29, tallying all 11 of his points in the first half to lead UAA to a 41-30 lead.

The teams traded baskets through much of the second half, with SPU making its biggest push late. The Falcons sliced an 11-point deficit almost in half on a pair of free throws by Downs and a trey from Jake Anderson with 4:30 left, making it 63-57.

White answered by hitting one of two free throws, and the Seawolves pushed the lead back to double figures with 3:12 on the clock when Thompson dialed up a long trey from the top of the key.

SPU, which won the rebounding battle 31-21, didn't get closer than nine the rest of the way.

The Seawolves got eight or more points from six different players, including 13 points on five of six shooting from Taylor Rohde.

Fossman finished with nine points on three of three three-point shooting, while Demissie tallied eight points.

Meanwhile, White, a fourth-year point guard, continued the finest offensive stretch of his career by shooting four of seven from the field and seven of nine at the free throw line.

The Australian also added four rebounds and committed only one turnover while playing a game-high 36 minutes. White now has 43 points over the last three games.

Montana State Billings 75, Alaska Fairbanks 64

Jaxon Myaer and Antoine Proctor scored 22 and 21 points, respectively, leading Montana State Billings to an 11-point road win at The Patty Center as Alaska Fairbanks (4-18, 1-11) lost its ninth game in a row.

The Yellowjacket converted on 50 percent (26-52) of their shots, including 14 of 24 in the second half. UAF was held to a 38.9 percentage, making 21 of 54.

Myaer made four of nine three-pointers, while Proctor made four of six treys. Overall the two combined for 15 field goals in 27 attempts. Taylor Stevens also was in double figures with 14 points.

Stevens hit three treys, all during a stretch in the second half when MSUB took control of the game.

The game was tied six times, but Stevens hit a pair of treys to put MSUB ahead for good. A fewer moments later the Yellowjackets scored 10 consecutive points on three-pointers by Myaer and Stevens, two free throws by Stevens and a layup by Robert Mayes to go ahead 52-41.

Alaska Fairbanks, which was led by Sergej Pucar with 21 points, never got closer than seven the remainder of the way.

The Nanooks also were led by Nico Matthews with 14. Carthal McDonald scored 11 points.

Simon Fraser 88, Saint Martin's 85

Justin Brown

Justin Brown scored 35 points, including a heave from midcourt at the buzzer as Simon Fraser earned its second conference victory of the season defeating Saint Martin's at Marcus Pavilion

Simon Fraser led 85-77 with just 41 seconds left, but Saint Martin's (8-13, 4-8) scored eight consecutive points, tying the score 85-85 on Ryan Votaw's three-pointer with just four seconds remaining.

But Brown took the inbounds pass, dribbled to half court and launched a desperation shot that hit nothing but net.

“I make them all the time in practice,” Brown said. “It felt good coming out of my hands.”

Brown, who scored his team's first nine points of the game, equaled a GNAC season-high with his 35 points, which is 20 above his season average. Earlier this season both Antoine Proctor of Montana State Billings and Lacy Haddock of Central Washington had 35-point efforts.

“Justice was probably served,” SMU coach Keith Cooper said. “The guy who beat us all night sank the game winner at half court.”

Cooper thought the shot was good when it left Brown's hands. He just wasn't sure Brown got it off in time.

SMU's big three – Jeremy Green, Brok Pendleton and Roger O'Neill – combined for 66 of their teams 85 points. Pendleton led with 26 points, Green added 25 and O'Neill had 15.

SMU was in comeback mode all night. Down 38-37 at half time, the Saints trailed 72-62 on Brown's lay-in with 5:25 left. And just as the Saints have done all season, they rallied again with an 8-2 run, closing to 74-70 on O'Neill's basket with 2:50 left.

But then SFU led 85-77 on Brown's two free throws with 41 seconds left, seemingly icing the win.

But the Saints rallied again. Pendleton started the surge with two free throws to shrink the lead to six. Votaw then buried his first of two three-points in the run, cutting the gap to 85-82 with 17 seconds left.

Then on the inbounds pass, O'Neill swatted at the ball, bouncing it off a SFU player and out of bounds to force a turnover. Brady Bomber then missed a three-pointer, Green rebounded and passed to an open Votaw, who coolly rattled in a three-pointer to tie the score with four seconds left.

Until Votaw's back-to-back treys, SMU went one for 15 from three-point. But for the game, SMU shot well enough to win, going 35 for 65 (54 percent) from the field.

Simon Fraser, which had lost seven of its last eight games, shot 56 percent (17 of 30) from the field in the second half. Most of those were lay-ins. The Clan scored 26 points in the paint.

Women's Basketball: Falcons Beat No. 8 Seawolves

Schramm keyed second half run with nine points

Nyesha Sims scored 13 points, and Katie Benson, Jordan Harazin and Aubree Callen added nine apiece as Seattle Pacific knocked off No. 8 Alaska Anchorage 67-62 in a GNAC game Thursday night at Brougham Pavilion.

The loss enabled Western Washington (14-5, 8-3) to close within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Seawolves (19-4, 10-2).

The Vikings got 22 points from Kristin Schramm and broke away from a 27-27 halftime tie to defeat Western Oregon 68-59.

Montana State Billings (16-7, 8-4) and Simon Fraser (12-7, 7-4), meanwhile, remained among three teams with four losses, with wins. The Yellowjackets overcame a three-point halftime deficit to defeat Alaska Fairbanks 88-72, while the Clan routed Saint Martin's 79-48.

In Seattle Pacific's win, Harazin pulled down a career high nine rebounds in addition to scoring nine points.

Anchorage had four players in double figures, including Gritt Ryder with 15, Haley Holmstead with 14, Sasha King with 13 and Kaylie Robison with 10.

The Falcons (14-6, 8-4) did shut down Seawolf forward Hanna Johansson, limiting her to four points and seven rebounds.

In UAA's 82-59 rout of Seattle Pacific on Jan. 7 in Anchorage, Johansson went for a monster double-double of 22 points and 18 rebounds.

The Falcons built a 19-point first-half lead at 42-23, and were up 42-25 at halftime. But Anchorage put together a 25-7 second-half scoring run and forged in front 50-49 on a pair of free throws by Robison with 6:50 left.

SPU went back in front (51-50) on two Benson free throws at the 6:24 mark. The Falcons led the rest of the way, but never by more than six.

During those final 6½ minutes, the Seawolves, who were kept 19 points below their 81.0 scoring average (No. 4 in Division II), had eight different opportunities to tie or take the lead.

But Seattle Pacific denied them every time, forcing two missed shots at 51-50, three at 54-52, and three more at 57-55.

"We talked about (the Seawolves) making a run," SPU coach Julie Heisey said. "They caught back up. (But) we showed resilience, we didn't fold, our seniors showed great leadership, and we did the little things right."

A pair of Harazin free throws at the 2:08 mark on a technical foul made it 59-55, then Benson hit two from the line for a 61-55 lead at the 1:44 mark.

Alaska Anchorage closed to 63-60 with 41.4 seconds left. But Callen responded with a long two from the right corner with the shot clock at four seconds and the game clock at 15.2 for a 65-60 advantage.

A putback by Alysa Horn with 4.3 seconds showing cut the lead to 65-62. Callen sealed it by swishing a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining. 

Western Washington 68, Western Oregon 59

Kristin Schramm scored a game-high 22 points, including nine during a crucial second-half run as Western Washington defeated Western Oregon at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

Guard Trishi Williams had 12 points on four of four field-goal shooting and center Britt Harris added 11 points and seven rebounds to also pace the Vikings.

Center Rylee Peterson led the Wolves with 18 points and forward Jade Haas added 16 and had five steals.

Tied at 31-31 early in the second half, the Vikings went on a 12-2 run to take a 43-33 lead with 14:19 to play. Schramm had the last nine WWU points in the charge, hitting four straight shots from the floor.

The Vikings were still up by 11 (63-52) with under four minutes to play.  The Wolves ran off seven straight points, narrowing the margin to four (63-59) on a free throw by Haas with 1:28 to play, but WWU hit five of six free throws to seal the victory.

WWU shot 47.8 percent (22-46) from the field, and had a 40-31 rebounding advantage, but was hampered by 27 turnovers.

The Vikings jumped to a 12-0 lead in the first seven minutes as WOU missed its first nine shots from the field. 

But the Wolves, who didn't hit the scoreboard until a fastbreak layin by Lorrie Clifford with 12:45 left in the first half, narrowed the margin to one (14-13) with 8:30 to go in the period.

Western Oregon then pulled into a 27-27 tie at halftime as Haas raced up court and beat the buzzer with a running three-pointer that rattled the rim and fell in.

Montana State Billings 88, Alaska Fairbanks 72

Peoples

Quinn Peoples and Bobbi Knudsen each scored 14 second-half points as Montana State Billings fought off an upset bid from Alaska Fairbanks to beat the Nanooks and extend its win streak to four games.

The Yellowjackets (16-7, 8-4) trailed the Nanooks(6-16, 2-10) 40-37 at halftime and fell behind by eight points (47-39) early in the second half before getting things turned around.

MSUB went ahead for the first time in the second half 51-50 with 13:46 left on a jumper by Annie DePuydt, then took the lead for good with 12:14 remaining on a trey by Peoples.

Peoples' three-pointer started a 19-4 MSUB run that gave the 'Jackets a 72-58 lead with 6:54 remaining. The lead remained in double digits the rest of the way.

Peoples finished with 20 points, connecting on five of 12 three-point shots, while Knudsen had 19. Janiel Olson had 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds, seven of them at the offensive end.

Nicole Hartzog paced Alaska Fairbanks with 15 points, while Nicole Bozek, who made 12 of 14 free throws, scored 14 points.

In the second half, MSUB shot 45.5 percent (15-33) to finish at 43.8 (28-64). UAF, however, cooled off making just nine of 29 after the break (31.0) and misfiring on all nine of their three-pointers. In the first half Fairbanks shot 53.6 percent (15-28) and finished at 42.1 (24-57).

Kalli Stanhope led the MSUB defensive effort with five steals, while Knudsen led her team with five assists, a number matched by UAF's Benissa Buyala.

Simon Fraser 79, Saint Martin's 48

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe scored 23 points and Chelsea Reist added 18 as Simon Fraser outscored Saint Martin's by 31 points to earn a conference victory at West Gym

Simon Fraser lost to the Saints earlier this season in Lacey, but Reist made sure it didn't happen again making all six of her shots in the first half and finishing the game with seven field goals in nine attempts.

In addition to her 23 points, Raincock-Ekunwe also had 10 rebounds, recording her 16th double-double of the season. That is just one shy of her own GNAC record.

The Clan also got 12 points from Kristina Collins, all from long range where she made four of seven.

Chelsea Haskey paced Saint Martin's with 10 points converting on five of 12. Jordyn Richardson had eight points, connecting on two treys and two foul shots.

Starting the game on a 4-0 run, SFU took the lead early on and never looked back.

As the Saints experienced a five minute scoreless drought, a 9-0 run propelled the Clan to a 20-point lead over the Saints, pushing the score to 34-14 with 2:33 remaining in the first half.

The Clan wound up with a 39-23 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

SFU, which outshot SMU 48.4 percent to 34.0 and outrebounded them 39-27, did not let up in the second half leading by as many as 31.

Men's Soccer: U-Mary, Sioux Falls To Join GNAC

The University of Mary, which is located in Bismarck, N.D., and the University of Sioux Falls of Sioux Falls, S.D., have agreed to become affiliate members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in men's soccer, GNAC Commissioner Dave Haglund announced Thursday.

The two NCAA Division II universities will begin play in the GNAC and the NCAA West Region beginning this fall.

They'll join Montana State University Billings, Northwest Nazarene University (Idaho), Saint Martin's University (Wash.), Seattle Pacific University (Wash.), Simon Fraser University (B.C.) and Western Washington University bringing membership in the GNAC men's soccer conference to eight.

The eight schools will each play a 14-game home-and-home schedule. U-Mary and Sioux Falls will be immediately eligible for the conference championship and all conference awards.

“We are extremely excited to welcome the University of Mary and the University of Sioux Falls as affiliate members beginning this fall,” Haglund said. “They will greatly enhance our conference offering in men's soccer while providing important additional in-region NCAA Division II contests for all eight members.” 

U-Mary and Sioux Falls are currently members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, which does not sponsor men's soccer. All its other teams will continue to compete in the Northern Sun.

“The University of Mary is thrilled to join the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and be a part of such a nationally-respected organization,” U-Mary athletic director Roger Thomas said.

“When looking for a home for our men's soccer team, we hoped to find a conference that shared our athletic and academic philosophies and played soccer at a very high level. We feel the GNAC is a perfect fit for the Marauders and will help us improve the visibility and provide stability for our program.”

“We are extremely excited to be a member of the GNAC,” said USF Athletic Director William Sanchez. “The GNAC is one of the premier NCAA DII conferences in the nation and has built a strong reputation in collegiate soccer. This is a big day for our university and our men's soccer program, as we complete our transition into the NCAA DII.”

U-Mary and Sioux Falls will join a conference that has accounted for nine men's soccer national championships from current or former members.

Simon Fraser was a perennial NAIA national powerhouse winning NAIA national titles in 1976, 1982 and 1983 before joining the GNAC in 2010 and becoming the first Canadian member of the NCAA.

This past year the Clan posted an 18-0-1 record and was the No. 1 ranked NCAA Division II team in the nation in the final regular-season poll though it was ineligible for the playoffs as a provisional NCAA member.

Seattle Pacific, which hosted the NCAA West Regional playoffs last season as the No. 1 seed, has won five NCAA Division II national titles, including 1978, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1993.

Former GNAC member Seattle University, which now competes at the Division I level, was the 2004 NCAA Division II national champion.

Both U-Mary under fifth-year head coach Dave Cook and Sioux Falls under second-year head coach Paul Bennett have previously competed against the GNAC.

Last year U-Mary played games against three of the GNAC institutions including Montana State Billings, Northwest Nazarene and Seattle Pacific, while Sioux Falls played four GNAC schools - Montana State Billings, Northwest Nazarene, Seattle Pacific and Simon Fraser.

Wednesday, Feb. 1

Football: CWU Signs 28, HSU Adds 15, WOU Inks 29

Bennett	Smith	Ferguson

A total of 28 high school seniors, all from the state of Washington, have signed National Letters of Intent to join the football program at Central Washington University.

Defending GNAC champion Humboldt State signed 15 on National Letter-of-Intent Day. (Note: Follow Humboldt State link for video highlights on recruits).

Meanwhile, Western Oregon inked 29 high school standouts, including 17 Oregonians, and Dixie State signed 16.

Central Washington's signing class represents a geographically-diverse group from the Evergreen State, with players coming from up and down the I-5 corridor as well as eastern Washington.

The school with greatest representation in the signing class is Lake Stevens High School, which had four Vikings -- three on the offensive side of the ball -- while Kentlake High School (Kent, Wash.), Lakes High School (Lakewood, Wash.), and Union High School (Camas, Wash.) had two signees each. "

From a positional standpoint, Central Washington's greatest pursuit was for quarterbacks and wide receivers in the class of 2012.

Nearly half of the Wildcats' 28 signees were recruited to play either the quarterback or wide receiver position, as CWU signed five quarterbacks and nine wide receivers to National Letters of Intent.

Humboldt State head football coach Rob Smith signed 15 talented athletes to National Letters of Intent. Eight more players are already on campus, having transferred in from junior colleges at the start of the semester.

“We're bringing a group of well-rounded young men to campus who are high in character and talent, and have the right attitude,” Smith said. “I expect them to play an important role in our program's future.”

The junior college players who transferred to Humboldt State for the winter semester will likely impact the program immediately. They'll get a jump on the athletes who will join the Jacks in the fall, participating in spring practice sessions.

Amongst Western Oregon's signees were a multitude of offensive and defensive linemen, along with a number of defensive backs and wide receivers.

"This is a balanced class with the size and speed to move us forward as we play a complete NCAA Division II schedule for the first time," said Ferguson.

"Last year we learned that we have to have a big physical line on both sides of the ball if we are going to compete against the likes of Grand Valley State, Montana and Abilene Christian."

Women's Soccer: SPU Inks Seven, NNU Adds 10

SPU's Sekyra signed seven recruits to NLIs

Seven high school seniors, including a quartet from the Crossfire Premier club program, have signed letters of intent to attend Seattle Pacific University.

Northwest Nazarene added 10 new players to its 2012 roster, signing six players from the state of Idaho and four recruits from Washington.

Five of Seattle Pacific's recruits are also from Washington, including Crossfire competitors Emma Holm, a defender from Kirkland (Lake Washington HS), Laura Moore , a forward from Kent (Kentwood HS), Shayla Page, a defender from Redmond (Eastlake HS) and Ashley Shaw, a midfielder from Seattle (Seattle Lutheran HS).

Taylor Hauck, a defender from Shoreline (King's HS), played her club soccer for the Washington Rush.

The Falcons recruiting class also features Monica Gomez from Riverside, Calif. (Woodcrest Christian HS) and Courtney Shearer from Bend, Ore. Gomez is a defender who played club soccer for Slammers FC and Shearer is a goalkeeper who played for the Oregon Rush.

"This is not only a very talented class, but a very well-rounded class with a goalkeeper, forward, two midfielders and three defenders," said SPU coach Chuck Sekyra, who directed the Falcons into the NCAA Division II tournament in each of his nine seasons. SPU won the 2008 national championship.

"All of these players not only come from talented club teams, but those club teams were successful at the highest level possible in our country. They are all excellent students who are great additions to our program as young women on and off the field. This is going to be a fun group to coach.”

For more information on both the Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene signees, click here.

Tuesday, Jan. 31

Baseball: Wolves Seek 11th Straight GNAC Title

Lind led the GNAC in ERA last season

Unlike any team in any GNAC sport, Western Oregon has dominated baseball since the conference was founded.

The Wolves will be gunning for their 11th consecutive GNAC title (and their 12th overall) this spring and once again are the pre-season favorite.

But, by the smallest margin in the history of the annual poll.

The Wolves received three of the five first-place votes and narrowly edged Northwest Nazarene by one point in the balloting.

Montana State Billings, which finished fourth last year, earned a No. 3 ranking in the poll, while last year's runner-ups Saint Martin's fell to fourth in the coaches' projections leaving Central Washington in fifth.

Western Oregon – on paper – appears well positioned to win yet another title as it returns six all-stars, including five 2011 first team selections.

Among that group is the best 1-2 pitching combo in the GNAC in Kirk Lind and Grady Wood who combined for a 15-5 record last season and ranked first (1.53) and third (2.32) in earned run average.

Wood was selected the GNAC Pitcher-of-the-Year, a discussion that Lind was also involved in.

Also returning as first team all-conference selections for the Wolves are outfielder Bo Folkinga, third baseman Griff Boyd and relief pitcher Ian MacDougall.

WOU's five first team selections matches the total from the other four conference schools combined.

Northwest Nazarene has three including 2011 batting champion and GNAC Freshman of the Year Logan Parker (.383), pitcher-outfielder Sean McDonald and first baseman Derek Bettinson.

The only other two returning first team players from the 2011 season are Central Washington third baseman Glen Reser and Montana State Billings shortstop Colby Robison.

Robison finished fourth in the conference in hitting (.335) and is one of four returnees among last year's Top 10 including Parker, Folkinga (.375) who finished second and McDonald who ranked eighth (.321).

Among last year's pitchers, seven of the 12 who had ERAs below 4.00 are back include Lind, McDonald (1.70), Wood, Tommy DeBoer (2.67) and Nate O'Bryan (3.22) of Saint Martin's, Brandon Rohde (3.35) of Central Washington and Brian Hutchings (3.86) of Montana State Billings.

The conference season will begin Mar. 9-11 as Northwest Nazarene travels to Monmouth to play Western Oregon Friday and Saturday in a four-game series matching the top two poll finishers.

Meanwhile, Montana State Billings will travel to Saint Martin's for a four-game series on Saturday and Sunday. Central Washington gets the first week bye before opening its 32-game conference slate on Mar. 17-18 at home against Saint Martin's.

Non-conference play begins this week as Saint Martin's opens a four-game series Friday at Cal Poly Pomona and Western Oregon travels to San Diego for a four-game series with perennial West Region power UC San Diego.

Central Washington makes its season debut Wednesday, Feb. 8 at San Francisco State, while Northwest Nazarene opens its season at home with a four-game series Feb. 10-11 with Minot State.

MSU Billings starts its season a week later debuting Feb. 17-19 with a four-game series at Colorado State – Pueblo.

Women's Basketball: Seawolves Climb Four Spots in Poll

Johansson

Alaska Anchorage made the second largest climb in this week's USA Today ESPN Division II Top 25 climbing four spots to No. 8. UC San Diego remained unbeaten and ranked first improving to 20-0.

Lander, S.C. made the biggest move jumping five spots from 24th to 19th. Grand Canyon fell four from 11th to 15th, while Cal Poly Pomona dropped out of the Top 25.

In this week's national stats, Hanna Johansson of Alaska Anchorage, who earned GNAC Player-of-the-Week honors, climbed into 10th in field goal percentage. Johansson is shooting 56.7 percent.

NNU's Briaunna King and UAA's Sasha King are the only other player ranked in the Top 10. Briaunna is seventh in double-doubles with 11. Sasha is ninth in assist/turnover ratio with a 2.14 ratio.

Alaska Anchorage continued to lead the nation in scoring margin (26.5) after two blowout wins. The Seawolves are also second in assists (19.8), fourth in scoring (81.0) and rebounding margin (12.4), fifth in field goal percentage (46.5) and field goal percentage defense (32.0) and sixth in assist/turnover ratio 1.15.

Seattle Pacific is fourth in free throw percentage (79.0), sixth in rebounding (10.1) and ninth in assists (17.8). Central Washington is sixth in three-pointers made (8.3). Western Washington is 10th in three-point percentage (36.9).

Men's Basketball: Vikings Move Up Two in NABC Poll

Western Washington remained the top-ranked West Region team in this week's NABC national poll climbing two spots to No. 16. Alaska Anchorage, meanwhile, moved up four positions to No. 21.

Cal Poly Pomona (29th overall) and Seattle Pacific (32nd) also received votes.

Travis Thompson of UAA and Kevin Davis of Central Washington remained the only players ranked in the Top 10. Thompson held steady in assist/turnover ratio at No. 2 (3.44), while Davis is eighth in blocks (2.9).

Nico Matthews of Alaska Fairbanks is 11th in steals (2.7) and two players - Anthony Golden of NNU in three-pointers (3.3) and Saint Martin's Brok Pendleton in blocks (2.5) - are ranked 12th.

In team stats, Alaska Anchorage is third in assists (19.9) and assist/turnover ratio (1.54), eighth in scoring margin (15.0) and 10th in three-point percentage (40.7).

Seattle Pacific is third in scoring defense (57.5), sixth in rebounding (8.6) and ninth in field goal defense (38.1).

Central Washington is fifth in blocked shots (5.9). Northwest Nazarene is sixth in three-pointers made (10.2) and 10th in free throw percentage (76.7). MSU Billings ranks 10th (9.6) in three-pointers.

Volleyball: Smith Resigns at Montana State Billings

Montana State Billings volleyball coach Steve Smith has resigned, MSUB athletic director Dr. Gary Gray announced Tuesday.

The Yellowjackets had an 11-16 record last fall, including 5-13 in conference matches. In three seasons at MSUB, Smith had a record of 33-40.

During his tenure, Smith has coached eight all-conference selections, 11 academic all-conference honorees and one CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. Smith also coached the first-ever All-American in program history in Devon Crotteau in 2010.

Prior to MSUB, Smith served four seasons at Fort Hays State. He also served as the assistant coach at Western Oregon for nine seasons.

Monday, Jan. 30

Softball: MSUB Narrow Favorite In 2012 GNAC Race

MSUB's Lee is the top returning hitter in the GNAC

Montana State Billings won its last nine games and 13 of its final 15 contests last spring.

While that wasn't enough for the Yellowjackets to earn a NCAA Division II West Region softball playoff invitation, it did draw the attention of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference coaches who have anointed MSUB as the 2012 GNAC pre-season favorite.

Not by much of a margin, mind you. In fact, the poll was a three-team horse race as MSUB edged two-time defending champion Central Washington by just two points and Western Washington by four.

The three teams split the seven first-place votes with MSUB earning three and Central Washington and Western Washington, which each qualified for the NCAA playoffs last spring, garnering two.

The Yellowjackets, who went 22-9 under Lisa Allen after she replaced Anthony Stone early in the season, return four all-stars.

Among the four are three of the GNAC's top seven returning hitters from a team that ended up with an overall record of 28-20 finishing third in the conference.

Outfielders Bobbie Lee and Meg Harasymczuk are back after earning first team honors. Lee is the conference's top returning hitter finishing third a year ago with a .432 average.

Harasymczuk, who was the GNAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, finished 11th (7th among returning players) with a .353 average. She hit 14 home runs and 39 RBI.

Four other returning GNAC players were first team selections. Back for Central Washington is designated player Carrina Wagner, who hit .329 and had the best run-producing numbers among returning players with 15 home runs and 41 RBI.

Simon Fraser first baseman Kelsey Haberl was also a first team choice after hitting .358 and leading the Clan to the NAIA national tournament. She ranked ninth in hitting in the GNAC.

Saint Martin's returns two first-team all-stars in pitcher-first baseman Joslyn Eugenio and second baseman Lacey McGladrey, who was the GNAC Freshman-of-the-Year .

Eugenio ranked fifth in the GNAC with a .391 average and also posted a 5-14 record in the circle, while McGladrey ranked eighth with a .358 average.

Western Washington doesn't return any first-teamers, but does have a pair of second-teamers in catcher Jackie Rothenberger, who hit .344 to rank 13th, and outfielder Meghan Carrillo, who batted .315.

The only other returning players who ranked in the Top 15 in hitting were Central Washington second baseman Molly Coppinger and MSUB third baseman Nicole Colpron.

Both players were second team all-stars after finishing seventh (.360) and 10th (.355), respectively, in the conference batting race.

Six of last year's Top 10 hitters are back, but only five returning pitchers had ERAs below 4.00 and just two reached double-digit wins.

Cara Lukawesky of Simon Fraser, which is picked to finish fourth in the GNAC race, is the top returner in both ERA (3.26) and wins (16-9).

MSUB has two pitchers in that category (ERAs below 4.00). Kasie Conder ranked fifth (3.60) and Amanda Todd was eighth (3.85).

Jenna DeRosier of Western Washington, who made seven starts and eight relief appearances, finished sixth (3.63), while Chelsey Anderson, who led Northwest Nazarene to its best-ever conference record, ranked ninth with a 3.89 ERA as the Crusaders, who are projected to finish fifth this year, earned a fourth-place finish.

The Yellowjackets' Annaleisha Parsley, who had a 4.21 ERA, is the only double-digit winner returning in addition to Lukawesky. Parsley had a 10-9 record.

Western Oregon, which has a conference-low four returning starters and came in sixth in the coaches' poll ahead of Saint Martin's, also returns a quality pitcher in Brittany Reeves.

Reeves had a 7-3 record and a 2.60 ERA in 2010, before redshirting last season.

Central Washington opens defense of its conference title Feb. 17 when it begins a four-game series at Northwest Nazarene. Those will be the first of 36 conference games for both teams.

The GNAC non-conference schedule begins Friday as the Crusaders debut with a four-game series at UC San Diego. Saint Martin's is also scheduled to open its season hosting British Columbia Saturday

Western Washington, meanwhile, will compete in the Cal State Stanislaus Best of the West Invitational in Turlock, Calif. Saturday and Sunday.

The remainder of the GNAC schools will make their debut the following Friday in Las Vegas in the MSUB Stinger Invitational.

Joining MSUB in the tournament from the GNAC will be Central Washington, Simon Fraser, Western Oregon and Western Washington.

Sunday, Jan. 29

Track and Field: Boyes, Potter Claim No. 2 Spots

Potter added 2 1/2 inches to her No. 2 mark

Brennan Boyes of Central Washington and Ashley Potter of Western Oregon posted the No. 2 marks in GNAC history in their respective events Saturday at the University of Washington Invitational.

Boyes finished fifth in the men's high jump equaling the No. 2 GNAC all-time mark with a provisional national qualifying leap of 6-8 3/4. That was just one inch off the GNAC indoor record set by CWU's Cresap Watson in 2006.

Potter earned a PNQ in the women's triple jump with a leap of 39-1 adding 2 1/2 inches to her previous career best which already had ranked second in GNAC history. The record is 39-11 1/2 by Emily Warman of Western Washington in 2010.

Eight other GNAC athletes and two relay teams also posted all-time Top 10 performances Saturday in Day 2 of the meet at the Dempsey Indoor facility.

In the men's 800, Ryan Hansen of Western Oregon and Nathan Seely of Seattle Pacific posted the fifth (1:52.22) and sixth fastest times (1:52.26) in GNAC history earning PNQs in the process. Ryan Brockerville of Simon Fraser claimed the No. 10 GNAC all-time mark in the mile with a time of 4:12.60.

In the men's high jump, Logan Myers and Karsten Schick, both of Western Washington, moved into seventh place with leaps of 6-6 3/4, while Kati Davis of Central Washington matched the No. 5 mark in the women's pole vault with a PNQ leap of 12-0 1/2.

One of the athletes Davis matched was WWU's Karis Anderson who cleared that height on Friday in an earlier flight of the event.

Aisha Klippenstein of Simon Fraser joined Potter in the Top 10 in the women's triple jump with the third best all-time performance of 39-0 1/2.

Meanwhile, Nate Johnson of Seattle Pacific moved into third in the heptathlon with a provisional national qualifying score of 4,679. Johnson added 103 points to his previous career best, which had ranked third.

Western Washington's 4x400 relay teams both claimed the No. 8 all-time GNAC times. The men ran a school-record time of 3:21.51, while the Viking women ran a time of 3:57.50.

In addition to Boyes, Potter, Hansen, Seely, Davis and Johnson, Saturday's national qualifiers included WWU's Eleanor Siler in the women's 400 in a time of 57.30, Warman in the long jump (18-5 3/4) and Central Washington's Katharine Lotze in the women's triple jump (38-2).

Three Simon Fraser athletes also had performances better than the NCAA PNQ though they aren't eligible to compete in the national meet - Lindsey Butterworth and Michaela Kane in the women's 800 (2:12.80 & 2:13.97) and Brockerville in the mile.

UW Invitational (Jan. 27-28 at Seattle): Women (Top 8): 400 - 5. Eleanor Siler, WWU, 57.30. 4x400 Relay - 8. Western Washington 3:57.50. *Distance Medley Relay - 6. Simon Fraser 12:08.31. High Jump - 7. Brittany Grandy, WWU, 1.66 - 5-5 1/4. Long Jump - 6. Emily Warmen, WWU, 18-5 3/4. Triple Jump - 6. Ashley Potter, WOU, 39-1; 7. Aisha Klippenstein, SFU, 39-0 1/2. *Pentathlon - 4. Ali Worthen, SPU, 3729. Men (Top 8): 60 - 6. Bryan Mack, CWU, 6.99; 8. Mark Pangilinan, WWU, 7.05. *200 - 7. Kendale Hamlett, WOU, 22.57. 60 Hurdles - 4. Brett Campbell, WOU, 8.61; 6. Kody Rhodes, WOU, 8.68. 4x400 Relay - 3. Western Washington 3:21.51. *Distance Medley - 2. Simon Fraser 10:08.82; 3. Western Oregon 10:09.89. High Jump - 5. Brennan Boyes, CWU, 6-8 3/4. Pole Vault - 7. Cal Rosenberg, WWU, and Ray Zoellick, SPU, 14-5 1/2. Long Jump - 6. Jake Hyde, WOU, 22-1; 7. Kyle Lane, WOU, 21-10 3.4. Triple Jump - 7. Matson Hardie, WOU, 45-5 1.4. Heptathlon - 7. Nate Johnson, SPU, 4679. (*Indicates Friday events. All others on Saturday.)

Crusaders Earn Two Fourths in Jackson's Invitational

A pair of fourths by Barak Watson in the mile and Stephen Larlee in the triple jump were Northwest Nazarene's best finishes Saturday in the Jackson's Invitational at Nampa.

Watson ran a time of 4:21.76, while Larlee triple jumped 44-0 1/2. Joy Warrington finished fifth for the Crusader women in the shot put with a mark of 44-9 3/4.

On Friday, NNU won the men's distance medley relay (10:20.90) and Jesse Baggenstos, finished second in the men's 5,000 meters (15:29.23).

BSU Jackson's Invitational (Jan. 27 at Nampa): Women (Top 6): *Long Jump - 5. Molly Reid, NNU, 17-3 1/4. Shot Put - 5. Joy Warrington, NNU, 44-9 3/4. *Pentathlon - 5. Jill Bennett, NNU, 3115. Men (Top 6): Mile - 4. Barak Watson, NNU, 4:21.76. *5000 - 2. Jesse Baggenstos, NNU, 15:29.23; 5. Kaleb Fleenor, NNU, 16:13.29. *Distance Medley - 1. Northwest Nazarene 10:20.90. High Jump - 7. Andrew Galbraith, NNU, 6-2 1/4. *Long Jump - 5. Maurus Hope, NNU, 21-8 3/4. Triple Jump - 4. Stephen Larlee, NNU, 44-0 1/2. Heptathlon - 5. Greyson Kilgore, NNU, 3821; 6. Tim Greene, NNU, 359. (*Indicates Friday events. All others on Saturday.)

Saturday, Jan. 28

Women's Basketball: Wolves End Loss Streak to SPU

Peterson (left) scored 32 to key WOU win

Rylee Peterson poured in a career-high 32 points, offsetting matching 16-point performances by Seattle Pacific's Jordan Harazin and Rachel Murray, and leading Western Oregon to a stunning 79-74 win over Seattle Pacific Saturday afternoon at the New P.E. Building in Monmouth.

In other afternoon games, Montana State Billings (15-7, 7-4) and Northwest Nazarene (12-7, 6-5) earned road wins.

The Yellowjackets defeated Saint Martin's 58-52, while Northwest Nazarene cruised to a 83-56 win at Alaska Fairbanks.

In night games, Western Washington (13-5, 7-3) took over second place with a 70-61 road win at Simon Fraser (11-7, 6-4). Alaska Anchorage (19-3, 10-1) remained on top of the GNAC standings by 2 1/2 games crushing Central Washington 80-48.

Western Oregon (5-16, 4-7) had lost eight of their last nine games this season and 28 straight to Seattle Pacific dating back to Feb. 26, 1982 when WOU won in Monmouth 91-49.

Seattle Pacific (13-6, 7-4), which slipped into a tie for third place in the GNAC with Montana State Billings, had a 65-56 lead with 5:27 remaining.

The Wolves, however, outscored the Falcons 13-2 to turn a nine-point deficit into a 69-67 lead with 1:56 left.

Seattle Pacific tied the game at 69-69 on a pair of free throws by Katie Benson, who finished with 14 points, with 1:32 left.

Lorrie Clifford, however, put the Wolves on top for good at 71-69 on a pair of free throws with 1:32 remaining. She then hit a rolling lay-in at 45.8 seconds - her 18th and 19th points of the game - to make it 73-69.

A putback by Harazin with 27.7 seconds left brought SPU within two at 73-71.

But on the ensuing inbounds play, Jade Haas, who ended up with 15 points on seven of 10 shooting, broke down court all by herself for an uncontested lay-in and a 75-71 advantage.

Western Oregon eventually pushed it to 79-71 until a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Harazin accounted for the final margin.

The Wolves, led by Peterson's 10 of 16 performance, had the best shooting day of any Seattle Pacific opponent this season – 55.8 percent (29 of 52).

Prior to Saturday, no one had hit for even 50 percent against the Falcons. (Chico State's 49.2 percent was the previous high.)

The Falcons, after a solid first half of 48.3 percent shooting (14 of 29) cooled considerably after that, hitting just 34.5 percent during the final 20 minutes (10 of 29) and finishing the game at 41.4 percent (24 of 58).

Western Oregon built an early 17-10 lead, then the Falcons, who got 11 points and 10 rebounds from Nyesha Sims, ran off eight straight points, and the first half went back and forth the rest of the way.

SPU, down 34-32, ran off the last eight points of the first half to take a 40-34 lead into the break. Guard Betsy Kingma drained a three-pointer from the right corner with one second left, providing that six-point halftime margin.

Montana State Billings 58, Saint Martin's 52

Brooke Tolman scored all 11 of her points in the first half and Bobbi Knudsen notched 11 of her team-high 16 in the second period to lead Montana State Billings past Saint Martin's (7-14, 2-9) at Marcus Pavilion.

The Yellowjackets, who have won five of six and eight of 10, trailed 19-9 before running off 12 consecutive points and grabbing a 30-29 halftime lead.

MSUB then took control early in the second half with a 13-3 run which started with a three-pointer by Kayleen Goggins and closed with a pair of treys by Quinn Peoples.

MSUB led by at least nine points the rest of the way until the final 1:03 when the Saints got as close as five points.

In addition to her 16 points, Knudsen also had six rebounds and five assists. Goggins finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and Peoples had a dozen points.

The Yellowjackets outrebounded the Saints 51-35 as Janiel Olson hauled in 12.

Jordyn Richardson and Chelsey Baker scored a majority of Saint Martin's points getting 17 and 16, respectively. Haskey also had nine rebounds. The Saints' Jori Skorpik didn't score, but had five rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Northwest Nazarene 83, Alaska Fairbanks 56

Briaunna King recorded her 11th double-double of the season, scoring 21 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to lead Northwest Nazarene to a 27-point win at The Patty Center.

The Crusaders traded lopsided decisions on their trip to Alaska, losing Thursday at Anchorage by 40 points.

Joining King in double figures were Chelsie Luke with 20 points and Megan Hingston with 17. All three players had eight or more rebounds - Hingston had nine and Luke had eight - and shot better than 50 percent.

Both Luke and King made nine field goals, Luke in 12 attempts and King in 17. Hingston was seven of 13.

NNU did almost all its scoring inside the arc, taking just eight treys and making two. The Crusaders were 31 of 74 overall (41.9 percent). The Nanooks made 17 of 65 (26.2 percent) and just two of 12 on three-pointers.

Northwest Nazarene also controlled the backboards 52-38 and had five fewer turnovers (22-27). Defensively, Luke led the way with four steals.

Three UAF players - Autumn Greene, Benissa Bulaya and Taylor Altenburg - each had 12 points.

Both Nicole Bozek, UAF's leading scorer on the season averaging 16.1, and Emily Johnson, who has started 16 games this season, were ill and did not suit up for the Nanooks (6-15, 2-9).

Western Washington 70, Simon Fraser 61

Guard Kristin Schramm scored a team-high 14 points as Western Washington survived a see-saw battle to defeat Simon Fraser at West Gymnasium.

Trishi Williams added 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Vikings, who handed the SFU (11-7, 6-4) its first home loss of the season.

Center Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe led the Clan with game highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds recording her league-best 15th double-double of the season, two short of her own GNAC record she set last season.

WWU led by 16 points (36-20) a minute into the second half, but SFU chipped away at the margin, then used a 15-2 burst, with Raincock-Ekunwe scoring eight, in a little over three minutes to take a 50-44 lead with 10:15 to play.

The Vikings responded with a charge of their own, going on an 18-1 run for a 62-51 advantage with 4:21 left.

In all, WWU held SFU without a field goal for nearly eight minutes after the Clan took its six-point lead, a drought than ended on a Kristina Collins three-pointer with 2:30 remaining.

Another Collins trey narrowed the margin to three (62-59) with 1:40 to go, but the gap was never that small again.

Center Kayla Bernsen came off the bench to contribute 10 points and seven rebounds for WWU, which had a 43-32 advantage on the boards.

The Vikings trailed 18-13 with 6:45 left in the first half, but closed the period with a 19-2 run, holding SFU to just one of 11 field goal shooting in that stretch, to take a 32-20 lead at halftime.

WWU, which entered the game ranked sixth nationally in NCAA Division II in three-point percentage at 38.1, was just three of 19 (15.8 percent).

Alaska Anchorage 80, Central Washington 48

Haley Holmstead and Hanna Johansson combined for 45 points as 12th-ranked Alaska Anchorage earned its fifth straight win beating Central Washington at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Seawolves hit their first seven shots and 11 of their first 12 as they grabbed a 48-16 halftime lead and never looked back.

UAA cooled to 50 percent shooting for the game but managed to hold the Wildcats (6-12, 3-8) to 18.3 percent marksmanship, marking CWU's lowest percentage since turning NCAA Division II in the 1998-99 campaign.

Holmstead scored 11 points in the first five minutes and finished with 24, topping the 20-point plateau for the seventh time this season. She shot six of 12 from the field and 12 of 13 at the free throw line, sinking the most charities for the Seawolf in the past two seasons.

Johansson, meanwhile, picked up her second straight double-double and ninth this year with 21 points and 11 rebounds. She made nine of 13 from the field and added three assists and two steals.

The Seawolves held a 37-7 lead at the final media timeout of the first half and extended to 60-20 with 11 minutes left in the game.

UAA's 32-point halftime lead marked its second-largest ever in a conference game, trailing only a 58-23 advantage against Alaska Fairbanks on Feb. 27, 2010.

UAA, which swept its four-game home stand by an average of margin of 33.8 points, also got a combined 12 points and 12 assists from starting guards Sasha King and Gritt Ryder.

King made two of four three-pointers and tied her career-high by dishing exactly seven assists for the fifth time in the last seven games.

Holmstead led UAA with three steals as the Seawolves forced 22 Wildcats turnovers and held the visitors, who were lead in scoring by Kelsi Jacobson and Annie Martinez with seven points each, to five team assists.

The Seawolves' win was their 11th consecutive over the Wildcats and their seventh straight in Anchorage.

Men's Basketball: Morse's Trey Sinks Wolves 61-58

Morse scored SPU's final five points

Scott Morse hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 5.6 seconds on the clock and converted two clinching free throws with 1.2 left as Seattle Pacific defeated Western Oregon 61-58 in the Falcons' Homecoming game Saturday at Brougham Pavilion.

Western Washington (18-3, 9-1), Montana State Billings (12-7, 7-4) and Northwest Nazarene (10-9, 4-7) also recorded home victories.

The lone team to get a road win was Alaska Anchorage (15-4, 9-2) which kept pace with Western Washington by defeating Central Washington 82-65 at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Seawolves remained just one-half game back of the Vikings who rallied from a 38-33 halftime deficit to defeat Simon Fraser 86-75.

Montana State Billings defeated Saint Martin's 82-74 and Northwest Nazarene disposed of Alaska Fairbanks 62-53 for their wins.

Western Oregon (14-6, 7-4) staked a 58-52 advantage on a shot in the lane by Kyle Long with 2:33 remaining.

Seattle Pacific (16-4, 8-3), however, then closed the game with nine unanswered points. David Downs hit a three-pointer and Jobi Wall made one of two free throws to trim the deficit to 58-56 with 57 seconds to play.

Blair Wheadon missed a layup for WOU with 23.4 seconds on the clock, setting the stage for Morse's decisive trey from the right baseline off a pass from Riley Stockton.

After Morse drained two free throws, Long attempted a tying three-point try at the buzzer that was just wide to the right and caromed off the backboard.

Downs scored eight of his team-high 13 points from the free throw line for SPU. He was the team's lone double-figure scorer as Morse finished with nine points.

Long led the Wolves with 18 points. Kolton Nelson added 15 points and Jordan Freelander had 10.

Earlier in the game, Downs hit two free throws to cap an 8-2 run that brought the Falcons even at 18-18 with 4:42 left in the first half. The Wolves scored the next 11 points while holding SPU scoreless for 3 ½ minutes. That surge put WOU ahead 29-18 with 1:34 before the break.

The Falcons, who got eight points and eight rebounds from Jobi Wall, tallied the final five points to draw within 29-23 at halftime.

Wall helped SPU to a narrow 29-27 rebounding advantage. Brandon Troxel led the Wolves with seven rebounds. WOU's Wheadon and SPU's Downs each had three steals.

Alaska Anchorage 82, Central Washington 65

Taylor Rohde scored 25 of his 31 points in the second half leading the 25th-ranked Seawolves to their fourth straight road win.

The Seawolves also got 12 points apiece from Steve White and Lonnie Ridgeway as they won at CWU for the third consecutive time in the regular season and swept the season series from the Wildcats for the first time since 2006-07.

Central (10-9, 4-7) was led by 22 points from guard Toussaint Tyler, but playing without starting center Kevin Davis who was injured Thursday, was outshot 58.9 percent (33-56) to 42.0 percent (21-50) and outrebounded 34-22.

For UAA, the win marked the first time since the formation of the GNAC in 2001-02 that the Seawolves had swept back-to-back league road trips.

It was also the first time since 1985-86 that a Seawolf team has been perfect in four consecutive road contests (with no home games in between).

UAA – which also got eight points, two assists and no turnovers from guard Kyle Fossman – used a 10-4 run to go into halftime with a 36-29 lead.

Rohde, who sat the last 10 minutes of the half after picking up his second foul, quickly made up for lost time, using a succession of different post moves to help the Seawolves slowly widen their lead.

The 6-9 senior center finished 13 of 19 from the field and made five of six free throws to top the 30-point plateau for the third time in his career.

Meanwhile, Ridgeway scored eight of his season-high 12 points in the first half and finished with a perfect shooting night.

The 6-3 guard from Anchorage was four of four from both the field and the free throw line in just his second game back after missing eight weeks with a wrist injury.

White, who tallied a career-high 16 points in Thursday's 81-64 win at Northwest Nazarene, shot five of eight from the field to post his second straight double-digit effort.

Western Washington 70, Simon Fraser 61

Rory Blanche scored a game-high 19 points and Western Washington pulled away in the final 10 minutes to defeat Simon Fraser at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The 18th ranked Vikings improved to 10-1 at home with their fifth consecutive victory.

Jordan Sergent had 19 points for Simon Fraser (6-12, 1-9) which lost its 10th game in its last 12 contests.  Justin Brown and Connor Lewis each had 16 points for the Clan, who dressed just seven players.

The Vikings trailed 58-57 with 7:39 to play, but grabbed control of the contest with a 14-4 charge capped by a Paul Jones dunk that gave them a 71-62 advantage with 4:25 left.

The margin was never less than seven after that, and remained in double digits through the final 3:32.

John Allen had 16 points for WWU.  Jones added 12 and forward Zach Henifin contributed 11.  Blanche was seven of 11 from the field and five of five on free throws for the Vikings, who were 24 of 26 at the foul line (92.3 percent).

Blanche also took his career scoring total to 1,049 points, 17th in school history.

Simon Fraser, which hit its first four three-point shots, used an 11-2 run to open up a 23-11 lead midway through the first half, and still held a 10-point margin (35-25) with under three minutes left in the period. 

But the Vikings closed the half with an 8-3 charge and trailed only 38-33 at the break.

Montana State Billings 82, Saint Martin's 74

Antoine Proctor scored 25 points, including 14 in a row at one point in leading the Yellowjackets, who have won five of six, to an eight-point win at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

Proctor scored MSUB's final eight points of the first half on a pair of treys and a two-point basket as Billings closed the half with an 8-1 run to stretch a four-point lead (27-23) to 11 (35-24).

He continued his offensive display in the early moments of the second half getting MSUB's first six points. At that point, the 'Jackets lead was nine (41-32).

Billings, however, then diversified its offense getting 10 consecutive points, including two treys by Jaxon Myaer and two-pointers by Chase Richards and David Arnold to stretch its lead to 19 at 51-32.

Its biggest lead was 21 points (56-35) with 11:28 remaining and Saint Martin's wasn't able to cut the deficit to single digits until just 37 seconds were remaining.

In addition to Proctor, MSUB also got 13 points from Arnold (five of six shooting including three of four treys) and Robert Mayes and 10 from Myaer who also had seven assists. Proctor led MSUB to a 40-33 rebounding advantage grabbing eight.

Roger O'Neill led the Saints (8-12, 4-7) with 21 points. Brok Pendleton had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Jeremy Green had 15 points.

MSUB outshot SMU 51.7 percent (30-58) to 41.2 (28-68) and converted on 10 of 21 treys.

Northwest Nazarene 62, Alaska Fairbanks 53

Anthony Golden scored 15 points and Northwest Nazarene went coast-to-coast to record a nine-point victory over Alaska Fairbanks (4-17, 1-10) at the Johnson Sports Center.

Golden led a trio of players into double-figures as Jonathan Hawkins scored 14 points and dished out a team-high six assists and JB Pillard posted a 10 point, 10 rebound double-double.

The Crusaders, who made 25 of 46 shots, picked up their first home-court league win of the season.

Carthal McDonald scored a game-high 20 points to lead Alaska Fairbanks (4-17, 1-10), hitting on four of five three-pointers and finishing eight of 10 from the field. 

Dominique Brinson added 12 points and Nico Matthews handed out a game-high eight assists.

The Crusaders outrebounded UAF 28-21. In addition to shooting 54.3 percent from the floor, they converted on 42.9 percent (9-21) from the three-point line. 

Andy Maxwell and Golden each hit three triples as Maxwell finished with nine points and six rebounds.

Neither team spent much time at the foul line as NNU was three of four (all by Hawkins) and UAF made just one of three.

Defensively, Matthews led the Nanooks with five steals while Maxwell had three for the Crusaders.

NNU jumped to a 9-0 lead eventually going up by as many as 17 (28-11) in the first half and by 20 (46-26) in the second period.

The margin didn't return to single digits until 2:28 were remaining in the final period and Alaska Fairbanks never got closer than seven points.

Friday, Jan. 27

Indoor Track and Field: Worthen Qualifies In Pentathlon

Ali Worthen

Ali Worthen of Seattle Pacific racked up a career-best 3,729 points to take fourth place in the pentathlon Friday on the first day of the UW Invitational Indoor track and field meet.

Worthen's score is the third-highest in all of Division II so far this season (pending results elsewhere Friday). The only better totals are 3,885 and 3,852.

It also was well beyond the provisional national standard of 3,300 points, and obliterated Worthen's previous best of 3,447 set during her freshman year in 2009. Her total also ranks second in GNAC history. Her previous score had been the No. 2 mark.

Along the way to Friday's pentathlon total, Worthen shattered her PRs in two of the five individual events. She threw 35 feet, 1 ¼ inches in shot put, well beyond her previous indoor best of 31-3, and also beat her outdoor best of 33-3¾. She finished the 800 meters in 2:24.41. That also was better than any previous time indoors (2:28.02) or outdoors (2:24.52).

Worthen's best individual placing of the day was fifth in the high jump (5-5 ¼) and a tie for fifth in the long jump (17-10¾).

Kyle Van Santen of Saint Martin's also had a PNQ Friday, in the men's 5,000, finishing 10th in a time of 14:35.55. He bettered the standard by about 8 1/2 seconds in running the fourth fastest time in GNAC history.

Tanner Boyd of Western Washington ran the ninth fastest time in GNAC history finishing 15th in 14:52.70.

Western Washington pole vaulter Karis Anderson added 4 1/2 inches to her previous PNQ clearing 12-0 1/2 to finish fourth. That ranks fifth in GNAC history.

Simon Fraser's women's distance medley relay team also posted a time better than the NCAA standard finishing sixth in 12:08.31. The Clan, however, is ineligible to compete at nationals.

In addition to Worthen, Van Santen, Boyd and Anderson, GNAC athletes posted four other marks that rank in the Top 10 on the GNAC all-time charts.

Heidi Laabs-Johnson and Natty Plunkett ran the eighth and ninth fastest women's 5,000 meter times, while Simon Fraser and Western Oregon's men posted the sixth and seventh quickest distance medley marks.

Laabs-Johnson placed 15th in a time of 17:33.14 and Plunkett placed 17th in 17:33.14. Simon Fraser finished second in the men's relay in a time of 10:08.82, while Western Oregon finished third in 10:09.89.

UW Invitational (Jan. 27 at Seattle): Women (Top 10): Distance Medley Relay - 6. Simon Fraser 12:08.31. Pole Vault - 4. Karis Anderson, WWU, 12-0 1/2; 6. Terra Schumacher, SPU, 11-0 3/4. Pentathlon - 4. Ali Worthen, SPU, 3729. Men (Top 10): 200 - 7. Kendale Hamlett, WOU, 22.57. 5000 - 10. Kyle Van Santen, SMU, 14:35.55. Distance Medley - 2. Simon Fraser 10:08.82; 3. Western Oregon 10:09.89.

Pitt, Knispel, Firestone Second at Montana State

Stacey Pitt

Stacey Pitt, Anica Knispel and Taylor Firestone all finished second Friday for Montana State Billings in the Montana State Open at Bozeman.

Pitt placed second in the women's high jump with a leap of 5-3 3/4, while Knispel earned a second in the shot with a put of 43-5 3/4. Firestone placed second in the men's triple jump with a jump of 42-11 3/4.

Knispel's mark moved her from ninth to eighth on the GNAC all-time chart. Her previous best had been 42-3 1/2.

MSUB broke three school records in the meet led by its men's 4x400 relay team of Drew Galahan, Reiley Winebrenner, Lewis Polkow and Rory Bauer which finished fourth in a GNAC season-best time of 3:26.46.

Pitt broke two school records as she placed fourth in the pole vault (10-11 3/4) before breaking the high jump mark.

Meanwhile at Nampa in the opening day of the Jackson's Open, Northwest Nazarene won the men's distance medley in a time of 10:20.90. The Crusaders also got a second place finish from Jesse Baggenstos in the men's 5,000 (15:29.23).

Montana State Open (Jan. 27 at Bozeman): Women (Top 3): 3000 - 3. Whitney Mickelsen, MSUB, 10:58.86. High Jump - 2. Stacey Pitt, MSUB, 5-3 3/4. Shot Put - 2. Anica Knispel, MSUB, 43-5 3/4; 3. Leeza Henry, MSUB, MSUB, 43-1 1/2. Men (Top 3): Shot Put - 3. Tanner Rottrup, MSUB, 49-5 1/2. Triple Jump - 2. Taylor Firestone, MSUB, 42-11 3/4.

BSU Jackson's Invitational (Jan. 27 at Nampa): Women (Top 6): Long Jump - 5. Molly Reid, NNU, 17-3 1/4. Pentathlon - 5. Jill Bennett, NNU, 3115. Men (Top 6): 5000 - 2. Jesse Baggenstos, NNU, 15:29.23; 5. Kaleb Fleenor, NNU, 16:13.29. Distance Medley - 1. Northwest Nazarene 10:20.90. Long Jump - 5. Maurus Hope, NNU, 21-8 3/4.

Thursday, Jan. 26

Men's Basketball: Fossman Shoots UAA To Win

Fossman Shoots UAA To 17-Point Win

Kyle Fossman made nine of 10 shots, including six of seven three-pointers, and scored a career-high 26 points to lead Alaska Anchorage to a 81-64 win over Northwest Nazarene Thursday at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa.

The win, coupled with Montana State Billings' 79-57 home win against Western Oregon, allowed the Seawolves (14-4, 8-2) to move all alone into second place in the GNAC race.

The Wolves (14-5, 7-3) dropped into a tie for third with Seattle Pacific (15-4, 7-3) which defeated Saint Martin's 66-54.

Idle Western Washington (8-1) leads UAA by one-half game and Western Oregon and Seattle Pacific by 1 1/2.

In another game, Central Washington (10-8, 4-6) beat Alaska Fairbanks 74-69 to climb into a sixth-place tie with Saint Martin's (8-11, 4-6).

In addition to Fossman, Alaska Anchorage also got a career-high 16 points from senior guard Steve White in its win. White also had five assists.

The Crusaders (9-9, 3-7) were led by Jonathan Hawkins with 14 points and three assists, but NNU was unable to hold on to an early 10-4 lead.

After Nazarene's quick start, Fossman nailed consecutive three-pointers and Lonnie Ridgeway – playing in his first game since injuring his hand Dec. 3 – gave UAA the lead with a short jumper.

Leading 24-17 a few minutes later, Fossman again sank back-to-back treys, and the Seawolves led by at least nine points the rest of the way.

Fossman had 16 points as UAA forged a 40-26 halftime lead, including a rebound put-back of Travis Thompson's miss at the buzzer.

Abebe Demissie joined Fossman and White in double figures with 11 points on three of six three-point shooting off the bench, while Thompson had seven points and five assists.

UAA doubled up the Crusaders 32-16 on the boards, tying for the second-fewest rebounds ever allowed by a Seawolf team. The school record of 15 rebounds was set against NNU on Jan. 22, 2004.

The Seawolves also held lofty advantages in field-goal percentage (58.7 to 46.9) and three-point percentage (57.9 to 32.0), while shooting a season-best 88.9 percent (16 of 18) from the free throw line.

Jordan Nicholes and JB Pillard joined Hawkins in double figures for the Crusaders scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively. Pillard led all players with seven rebounds.

Montana State Billings 79, Western Oregon 57

Montana State Billings outscored Western Oregon 29-6 in a 10 1/2 minute period spanning the two halves and went on to defeat the Wolves 79-57.

Jaxon Myaer led the Yellowjackets with 14 points, including a jumper that gave MSUB a 34-33 lead late in the opening period.

The Yellowjackets trailed 33-27, but then outscored WOU 10-1 over the final 2:47 of the first half, taking the lead for good on a three-pointer by Taylor Stevens with 59 seconds remaining.

MSUB continued its surge outscoring the Wolves 19-5 over the first 7:47 of the second half and were never challenged the rest of the way.

Myaer led a balanced attack also earning seven assists in addition to his 14 points. David Arnold had 13 points, including 10 after halftime, while Antoine Proctor scored 12 and Stevens finished with 11.

Proctor also had four assists and four of MSUB's eight steals. He also made three of five three-pointers as the 'Jackets converted on 15 of 33.

Blair Wheadon paced Western Oregon with 18 points and Jordan Freelander scored 14. James Gehring had 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Kyle Long had eight points increasing his career total to 1,003 points becoming the 49th player in GNAC history to reach that plateau.

MSUB dominated the backboards outrebounding WOU 46-29 as Robert Mayes, who had nine points, grabbed 13 caroms.

The Yellowjackets also limited the Wolves to 33.3 percent shooting (19-57), while converting on 44.6 percent (25-56).

Seattle Pacific 66, Saint Martin's 54

Jeff Dorman equaled his career-high game total with 10 first-half points and finished with a team-high 12 leading Seattle Pacific to a 12-point win at Brougham Pavilion.

The Saints missed six of their first seven shots while the Falcons hit five of their first six shots in building a 13-3 lead.

That lead increased to as many as 13 points before settling on a 39-28 halftime margin in favor of SPU. Dorman made four of five shots in the period, including three of three treys.

SPU shot 55.6 percent (15 of 27) from the field in the opening half while holding SMU at 32.3 (10 of 31).

Jobi Wall and Cory Hutsen each scored 11 points for the Falcons and David Downs added 10. Wall and Andy Poling grabbed 10 rebounds apiece to lead a 43-37 edge on the boards.

Jeremy Green registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Saints, who also got 10 points from Roger O'Neill.

Matt Dodson tallied five straight points to start a seven-point surge that trimmed SMU's deficit to 50-45 with 9:12 left to play.

Wall, however, stopped the run, and SPU's 5-minute, 16-second scoreless drought, with a pair of free throws at 6:30. That ignited a decisive 11-2 spree for the Falcons, who extended their win streak over SMU to six.

Central Washington 74, Alaska Fairbanks 69

Roby Clyde scored a season-high 13 points - all in the second half - as Central Washington handed the Nanooks (4-16, 1-9) their seventh straight loss.

In the absence of center Kevin Davis who didn't play in the second half due to injury, Clyde and Jody Johnson combined for 22 second-half points on eight of 13 shooting to key the win.

The Wildcats had a 33-30 lead at halftime but UAF pulled into a 60-60 tie on a three-pointer by Nico Matthews with 5:12 left.

But the Wildcats answered 18 seconds later on a jump shot by Clyde. Central never relinquished that lead as Clyde scored eight of the final 14 points to give the Wildcats the final five-point win.

CWU guard Lacy Haddock, who played all 40 minutes, scored a team-high 18 points on seven of 16 shooting. Johnson finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Clyde added seven rebounds as he finished one point shy of his career-high total of 14. Also scoring in double digits was Toussaint Tyler who netted 15 points.

The Nanooks outshot the Wildcats 46.6 percent (27 of 58) to 43.8 percent (28 of 64), but Central shot 73.7 percent (14 of 19) from the free throw line and had four fewer turnovers (10-14)

The Nanooks were led in scoring by Sergej Pucar with 20 points on nine of 11 shooting and Dominique Brinson with 14 points and three steals. Matthews had 12 points and Stefan Tica had 11.

Women's Basketball: Sims Leads Falcons to 78-62 Win

Sims scored 15 as SPU Outscored SMU 78-62

Nyesha Sims scored 15 points and was one of six Seattle Pacific players in doubles figures as the Falcons rolled past Saint Martin's 78-62 in a GNAC contest Thursday at Marcus Pavilion.

That put SPU (13-5, 7-3) back into sole possession of second place in the conference standings, one-half game ahead of Western Washington and Simon Fraser who both had the night off and remained at 6-3.

Meanwhile, nationally 12th ranked Alaska Anchorage (18-3, 9-1) held on to its two-game lead in the conference doubling up Northwest Nazarene 79-39.

Elsewhere Thursday, Montana State Billings defeated Western Oregon 57-41 and Central Washington outscored Alaska Fairbanks 94-72.

Joining Sims, who had nine of her points in the second half, in double figures in Seattle Pacific's win were Rachel Murray with 12 points, Suzanna Ohlsen with 11 and Aubree Callen, Katie Benson and Betsy Kingma with 10 apiece.

Chelsea Haskey, who had 12 points led the Saints. SMU also got nine each from Emily Lashua and Andrea Schutt.

“We came out in the second half, and Nyesha gave us a huge spark,” Seattle Pacific head coach Julie Heisey said.

“Rachel (Murray) was solid in rebounding and going to the basket and taking a couple of charges and Aubree (Callen) was very aggressive," Heisey said. "Katie Benson, Jordan Harazin (who didn't take a shot but had five assists) – they all did a really good job.”

Murray also grabbed eight rebounds as the Falcons dominated the boards, 42-30.

The Falcons had a 13-point lead late in the first half at 35-22. But Saint Martin's (7-13, 2-8) closed the half with a 7-2 scoring run to get within 37-29 by the intermission.

The Saints then scored the opening bucket of the second half, cutting SPU's lead to 37-31. But from there, the Falcons ran off the next 11 points. That made it 48-31, and Saint Martin's never came closer than the final margin of 16.

Harazin's five assists moved her into a tie for 20th place on the all-time GNAC list. She now has 271 for her career.

Seattle Pacific topped 50 percent shooting from the field for the fifth time this season, hitting 51.6 percent (33 of 64). That included eight of 10 to start the second half, fueling the decisive 11-0 scoring surge.

The Falcons had 22 assists on those 33 baskets. Sims matched Harazin's total of five. It was the eighth time this season SPU has had 20 or more assists in a game – and they've won all eight.

Alaska Anchorage 79, Northwest Nazarene 39

Hanna Johansson scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Alaska Anchorage to a 40-point victory over Northwest Nazarene at the Wells Fargo Sport Complex.

The Seawolves also got 19 points and four steals from Haley Holmstead handing the Crusaders their worst loss since Feb. 12, 2005 when they were beaten 90-47 by Seattle Pacific.

Northwest Nazarene (11-7, 5-5) didn't have a player in double figures as Briaunna King led them with nine points.

The Crusaders shot just 24 percent (12 of 50) and were outrebounded 50-32 as UAA, which leads the nation in scoring margin, recorded the widest margin of victory in 26 all-time meetings with NNU.

After going scoreless for the first five minutes, Northwest Nazarene went on a 12-2 spurt to take a 12-8 lead at the 11:56 mark. But Holmstead scored on an assist from Johansson and Kylie Burns nailed a three-pointer to start a 16-1 Seawolf run.

UAA took just a 32-23 lead into the locker room despite holding NNU to one field goal over the final 11 plus minutes. However, Holmstead scored four quick points to start the second half, and the lead quickly grew to 45-25 on a Johansson layup at the 13:2 mark.

Johansson recorded her eighth double-double, shooting eight of 13 and adding four assists, three blocks and two steals.

In two games against NNU this season, she has 40 points on 16 of 21 shooting, 27 rebounds, 12 assists, five blocks and five steals.

The Seawolves, who recorded their sixth 40-plus victory margin this season, shot 46.5 percent from the field despite a three of 17 three-point performance.

Montana State Billings 57, Western Oregon 41

Brooke Tolman scored a season-high 19 points and Bobbi Knudsen added 12 points, four assists and four steals as Montana State Billings completed a season sweep of the Wolves at the New P.E. Building.

“Brooke (Tolman) really helped us in the first half especially, but she carried that over to the second half to put together a very good, complete game that we needed,” MSUB coach Kevin Woodin said.

“The key was that we played good, team defense and rebounded extremely well,” Woodin added.

MSUB out-rebounded the Wolves 44-32 and also had six fewer turnovers (15-21) which enabled the Yellowjackets to record the double-digit win despite being slightly outshot 35.6 percent to 34.4.

Tolman, who had 11 first-half points, came off the bench to hit six of her 10 attempts from the field, including a a season-high four treys in six attempts. Knudsen made six of 13 from the field and had a game-high four assists.

The freshman forward tandem of Janiel Olson and Kayleen Goggins each had game-highs of eight rebounds.

Rylee Peterson led Western Oregon with 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals, while Melissa Fowler had eight points.

Central Washington 94, Alaska Fairbanks 72

Alex Dunn scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures as Central Washington outscored Alaska Fairbanks at The Patty Center.

The win enabled CWU (6-11, 3-7) to complete a sweep of the season series with the Nanooks (6-14, 2-8) for the first time in three years.

Dunn, who played 33 minutes, was in contention for her second triple-double of the season but finished three assists shy of that accomplishment. Nonetheless, she still led all players with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

CWU also got 19 points from Courtney Johnson, 18 from Jessica VanDyke and 17 from Sophie Russell and turned in its most efficient -- and its second-highest scoring -- performance of the season.

CWU did not trail in the contest, scoring on its opening possession with a three-pointer by Russell. The Wildcats and Nanooks were tied just once in the contest -- at 23-23 with 8:29 to go in the first half -- before the Wildcats closed the period on a 23-8 run to take a 46-31 halftime edge.

The scoring spurt carried over to the second half, when CWU scored the first 10 points, and the Wildcats had a lead of 20 points or more for the final 19:05 including a lead as great as 28 at one point.

The Wildcats' prolific offense included a 52.1 percent efficiency from the floor and 11 of 19 three-pointers (57.9 percent).

Dunn made 10 of 14 shot attempts, while Johnson made seven of 10 and VanDyke converted on six of 10. Van Dyke (4-7), Johnson (4-5) and Russell (3-5) combined to make 11 of 17 treys.

Alaska Fairbanks was led by Nicole Bozek and Kelly Logue with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Nanooks also got nine points each from Jacqueline Lovato, Autumn Greene and Benissa Buyala. Greene also had 10 rebounds.

Football: Simon Fraser Players On World Team

Chin	Goosen

Simon Fraser linebacker Casey Chin (Port Moody, BC) and offensive lineman Matthias Goosen (Richmond, BC) have been named to the World Team roster for the 2012 International Bowl in Austin, Texas.

The game between Team USA and Team World will be played next Wednesday.

A total of 28 Canadians were named to the 44-member International Federation of American Football World Team roster which will include players from nine different countries.

Team World is led by Greg Marshall, head coach at the University of Western Ontario.

It will be Goosen’s second trip to the International Bowl while Chin will be making his first appearance in the game.

“It’s a huge honor for these two young men to be chosen to represent Canada,” said SFU football head coach Dave Johnson. “It’s such a unique opportunity for a football player. I have no doubt that Matthias and Casey will make their country, and their school proud.”

Goosen just completed his sophomore season with the Clan, earning a nomination to the GNAC all-conference first team.

Chin led the GNAC in average tackles per game with 8.2 and had 74 tackles. He was named to the GNAC all-conference second team.

Team World gathered in the Texas state capital today as the coaching staff began the task of bringing together players from all over the world to take on Team USA.

Tuesday, Jan. 24

Women's Soccer: Krakowiak Named MSUB Head Coach

Krakowiak

Wojtek Krakowiak, who served as interim coach at Montana State Billings last season leading the Yellowjackets to an 11-3-4 record, has been named the school's permanent women's head soccer coach.

“After conducting a national search, we are pleased to announce that Coach Krakowiak will be moving from his interim role as head coach to the regular slot,” MSUB athletic director Dr. Gary Gray said.

“He worked hard as the interim, and the team's record showed it last year. We are looking forward to meeting his first recruiting class in August," Dr. Gray said.

"I am confident the student-athletes under his care will work hard not only in the classroom but also on the soccer field to return to the NCAA tournament next fall.”

In his first season at the helm of the program, MSUB finished second in the GNAC with an 8-2-4. That included a 1-0 road victory over 14th-ranked Seattle Pacific.

The Yellowjackets endured the fewest losses in program history, with a .722 winning percentage, the best in the program's 16-year history.

Prior to his time with the Yellowjacket soccer program, Krakowiak served as the head coach at Division III Rutgers – Newark where he went 15-20-3 in two seasons.

In 2008 he guided Rutgers - Newark to its only post-season berth  in the program's brief 10-year history.

Krakowiak played collegiately at St. John's and Clemson. He was honored as the Soccer America Freshman of the Year at St. John's after helping the Red Storm to the 1996 NCAA Championship.

At Clemson, he was the 1998 Hermann Trophy recipient (the equivalent to football's Heisman Trophy) and was named the ACC Player-of-the-Year after scoring 31 goals and securing eight assists while leading the Tigers to the NCAA quarterfinals.

Vikings Name Brisbon Associate Head Coach

Brisbon

A familiar face is returning to Western Washington University as Greg Brisbon has been named associate head coach for the men's and women's soccer teams.

The 37-year-old Brisbon served seven seasons as an associate head coach and 11 years overall as an assistant coach for both squads at WWU before leaving in January of 2011 to work for Crossfire Premier Soccer Club in Redmond.

At Crossfire Premier, Brisbon coached a U20 Super League team of the United Soccer League that qualified for nationals last summer. He also directed three youth teams throughout the year.

“We are excited that Greg is back with us at Western,” said WWU head coach Travis Connell. “His knowledge, experience and work ethic are contagious. The players and coaches are looking forward to working with him again.”

During Brisbon's first tenure at WWU, the Viking men won GNAC titles in 2002 and 2008, and enjoyed six double-figure win seasons. The women won the GNAC crown and got to the NCAA Division II West Region final in 2008 and reached the regional semifinal in 2006, having seven double-figure victory campaigns.

Brisbon played professionally with the Tallahassee Scorpions in 1998 after earning his bachelor's degree at Seattle Pacific University. He lettered two years for the Falcons after graduating from North Kitsap High School

Men's Basketball: Vikings Top Rated West Region Team

Western Washington (17-3) is ranked 18th and Alaska Anchorage (13-4) is ranked 25th in this week's NABC Division II Men's basketball national poll.

The two are the only West Region teams to receive votes in this week's poll. Though the poll has no impact on who eventually hosts the West Region playoffs in March, it may be a pretty good indicator of whom the front runners are.

The NCAA will announce the first of three regional ranking on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Those rankings will eventually determine the host school and the five at-large teams that will join the GNAC, PacWest and CCAA champions in the playoffs.

Western Washington currently leads Alaska Anchorage and Western Oregon by one game in the GNAC race. Meanwhile, the CCAA and PacWest races are both multi-tie affairs.

Chico State, Humboldt State, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State San Bernardino are in a five-way tie for the CCAA lead, all with 8-4 records.

Four teams - Cal Baptist, Dixie State, Chaminade and BYU-Hawaii - are tied for the PacWest lead with 6-1 marks. Cal Baptist is a provisional school and is not eligible for the playoffs.

Women's Basketball: Seawolves Move Up Two To No. 12

Alaska Anchorage is ranked 12th in this week's WBCA Top 25 women's basketball poll.

The Seawolves climbed from 14th after winning two games last week to improve to 17-3. They were the only GNAC team to receive a vote in the poll.

UC San Diego (18-0) is ranked No. 1. Also in the Top 25 from the West Region are Grand Canyon (13-1) at No. 11 and Cal Poly Pomona (12-4) at No. 22.

Monday, Jan. 23

Men's Basketball: Golden Eighth In Three-Pointers

Golden

Anthony Golden of Northwest Nazarene, who joined the 1,000 Point Club Saturday, ranks eighth in three-pointers in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report.

Golden, who has scored 1,004 career points, is averaging 3.4 three-pointers made per game and is one of four GNAC players ranked in the Top 10 this week.

Travis Thompson of Alaska Anchorage ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (3.58) and Kevin Davis of Central Washington is seventh in blocks (3.0). Ranked 10th is David Downs of Seattle Pacific in three-point percentage (49.0).

Alaska Anchorage is ranked No. 2 in two team categories - assists (20.8) and assist/turnover ratio (1.59). Central Washington is third in blocks (6.3) and 10th in scoring (84.9).

Seattle Pacific is fifth in scoring defense (57.6) and rebounds (9.1) and 10th in field goal percentage defense (38.2). Northwest Nazarene is fourth in three-pointers made (10.4).

Women's Basketball: Seawolves Populate Top 10s

Moser

Though Alaska Anchorage wasn't a Top 10 ranked team last week, coming in at No. 14, you wouldn't know it by looking at this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report.

The Seawolves are ranked in the Top 10 in eight different catories and lead the nation in scoring margin. They improved that mark to 25.6 points per game with 28 and 35-point road victories last week earning Coach Tim Moser his 151st and 152nd career victories against only 30 losses.

Moser's team also ranks second in assists (19.5), third in rebounds (12.9), fourth in scoring (81.1), sixth in field goal defense (33.1), eighth in field goal percentage (46.3), ninth in three-point percentage (37.5) and 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.12). The only Top 10 ranks they missed was a fifth and seventh.

Seattle Pacific is seventh in free throw percentage (78.0) and rebounds (10.4) and 10th in assists (17.8). Central Washington is sixth in three-pointers (8.4). Western Washington is seventh in three-point percentage (38.1) and Northwest Nazarene is ninth in free throws (77.7).

Briaunna King of Northwest Nazarene is seventh in double-doubles (10) for the only individual Top 10 ranking.

Two players - NNU's Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili (steals, 3.4) and SPU's Jordan Harazin (assist/Turnovers, 2.22) - have No. 11 rankings.

Sunday, Jan. 22

Track and Field: PNQs for MSUB, NNU Athletes

Henry	Christie

Leeza Henry of Montana State Billings and Rimar Christie of Northwest Nazarene had GNAC All-Time Top 10 and provisional national qualifying marks this weekend in meets in Gillette, Wyo., and Nampa, respectively.

On Sunday, Henry, a transfer from Hutchinson JC in Kansas, won the women's shot at the Black Hills State/Chadron State Invitational in Gillette with a provisional national qualifying put of 44-5.

That is the fifth longest throw in GNAC indoor history and is also a MSUB school record. Also setting a MSUB school mark was Delaware Steingruber in the women's long jump with a second-place finish of 16-9 1/2.

MSUB's only other winner in addition to Henry was Taylor Firestone who won the men's long jump with a leap of 21-11.

Meanwhile, Christie recorded a pair of GNAC season-best marks Saturday in the Boise State Bronco Invitational at Nampa.

Christie had a third-place time of 6.95 in the 60 moving into a tie for fifth on the GNAC all-time chart and equaling the NCAA Division II provisional standard.

His fourth-place time in the 60 hurdles of 8.44 ranks eighth on the GNAC Top 10 charts and is best in the conference this winter. Both times are school records.

NNU's Joy Warrington also bettered the PNQ standard in the shot with a throw of 44-8. That was 3 1/2 inches shy of her season best of 44-11 1/2 she set a week earlier.

BSU Bronco Invitational (Jan. 21 at Nampa): Men (Top 6): 60 - 3. Rimar Christie, NNU, 6.95. 60 Hurdles - 4. Rimar Christie, NNU,8.44; 6. Maurus Hope, NNY. 8.57. Triple Jump - 4. Stephen Larlee, NNU, 13.28 - 43-6. Women (Top 8): High Jump - 6. Courtney Schroeder, NNU, 1.55 - 5-1; 8. Jasmyn Jewett, NNU, 1.55 - 5-1. Shot Put - 7. Joy Warrington, NNU, 13.61 - 44-8.

Black Hills/Chadron State Invitational (Jan. 22 at Gillette, Wyo.): Men (Top 3): 800 - 3. Chase Robinson, MSUB, 2:00.00. Mile - 3. Tyson Vanderby, MSUB, 4:31.18. Long Jump - 1. Taylor Firestone, MSUB, 6.69 - 21-11; 2. Shae Stein, MSUB, 6.47 - 21-2. Women (Top 3): 60 - Justine Simons, MSUB, 8.37. 200 - 3. Justine Simons, MSUB, 27.47. Pole Vault - 3. Emili Crowder, MSUB, and Tiffany Thomas, MSUB, 2.75 - 9-0 1/4. Long Jump - 2. Delaware Steingruber, MSUB, 5.12 - 16-9 1/2.

Saturday, Jan. 21

Men's Basketball: Vikings Maintain One-Game Lead

Blanche

Rory Blanche scored 24 points as Western Washington held on to first place in the GNAC Saturday outscoring Northwest Nazarene 90-71 at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The Vikings (17-3, 8-1) remained one game ahead of both Western Oregon (14-4, 7-2) and Alaska Anchorage (13-4, 7-2) at the halfway point of the conference season.

Western Oregon got 20 points from Blair Wheadon and used a trio of 11-0 runs to spurt past Alaska Fairbanks 80-67 at the WOU's New PE Building.

Alaska Anchorage ended Saint Martin's three-game win streak with a 64-54 road win at Lacey.

Montana State Billings (10-7, 5-4) knocked Seattle Pacific (14-4, 6-3) out of a three-way tie for second defeating the Falcons 86-77 at Billings.

In another game, Central Washington (9-8, 3-6) outscored Simon Fraser 101-83 at Burnaby.

Western Washington shot better than 80 percent from the floor for the first 11 minutes in grabbing a big early lead in its win over Northwest Nazarene.

The 22nd ranked Vikings were led by Blanche who made 10 of 13 field goal attempts and also had eight rebounds. Chris Mitchell added 20 points, missing just one of nine shots as WWU converted on 62.7 percent (37-59).

Center JB Pillard had 15 points and nine rebounds for NNU (9-8, 3-6). NNU also got 14 points from Anthony Golden who became the 48th player in GNAC history to score 1,000 career points. Golden now has 1,004.

The Vikings hit nine of their first 10 shots opening up a 22-6 advantage just seven minutes into the contest, and never led by less than 10 points after that. 

Through the first 11 minutes, they were 15 of 18 (83.3 percent), including four of four on three-pointers.   

WWU held a 48-33 lead at halftime, shooting 67.7 percent (21-31) from the field.  The Vikings hit their first six shots to open the second half, going up 63-37 with 15 minutes remaining. The margin was not under 20 again until the final 21 seconds.

John Allen had 18 points on six of eight field-goal accuracy.  WWU, which lost all three meetings with NNU last season including a playoff game after winning the previous eight in the series with the Crusaders, was seven of 14 on three-pointers as Mitchell made all four of his attempts.

Western Oregon 80, Alaska Fairbanks 67

Long

All five Western Oregon starters scored in double figures in the Wolves' win led by Wheadon, who made six of 16 shots, including three treys.

Kyle Long scored 17 points to increase his career total to 995 points, while James Gehring scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half. Jordan Freelander and Kolton Nelson each scored 11.

Stefan Tica led the Nanooks with a game-high 27 points as he hit seven treys in 13 launches. Dominique Brinson netted 13 points and Sergej Pucar scored 12. Brinson and teammate Ben Teer each had a game-high seven assists.

The first of three 11-0 runs gave WOU an early 24-12. The Wolves then used another 11-0 run to go ahead by 19 (53-34) in the early stages of the second half.

The Nanooks, however, responded with 15 consecutive points to climb back within four at 53-49 and climbed within one at 55-54 with 10:28 left.

WOU, however, then used another 11-0 run to go ahead 66-54 and take firm control of the contest.

The Wolves ended up shooting 50 percent (30-60), converting on nine of 24 treys, and also outrebounded the Nanooks 42-30 as Wheadon, a guard, grabbed a game-high eight. Gehring matched him also hauling in eight caroms.

Jordan Freelander, who made four of five shots, had a team-high five assists. Nelson made five of seven shots. UAF (4-15, 1-8) only employed seven players as three - Teer, Brinson and Tica - all played 40 minutes.

Alaska Anchorage 64, Saint Martin's 54

Rohde

Taylor Rohde had 20 points and 10 rebounds as Alaska Anchorage earned a 10-point road victory over Saint Martin's at Marcus Pavilion.

The Seawolves also got 12 points from Kyle Fossman as they snapped the Saints' three-game winning streak.

Saint Martin's (8-10, 4-5), which fell behind 10-4 in the first seven minutes and trailed throughout, was led by Brok Pendleton with 15 points and six rebounds.

Rohde, the GNAC's leading scorer, equaled his season average on six of 12 shooting from the field and eight of 10 at the line. The performance was his fifth double-double this year.

With both teams shooting under 43 percent, the Seawolves used a 35-28 rebounding advantage and forced 15 steals, fending off every SMU charge in the second half.

Point guard Steve White scored nine points and Travis Thompson – coming off a career-high 22 points in Thursday's win at Western Oregon – added seven points, three assists, two steals and no turnovers in 33 minutes.

Ryan Votaw joined Pendleton in double figures for the Saints with 11 points. However, the Seawolves held Jeremy Green and Roger O'Neil, SMU's two leading scorers for the season, to just 10 points.

The two struggled going a combined 0 for 14 by midway through the second half.

“It's hard for us to win games when we can't get scoring from those two guys,” Saints coach Keith Cooper said.

Defensively, the Saints played well enough to win, holding Anchorage nearly 16 points below its season average.

At halftime, the Saints were shooting a frosty 35 percent (10-28), yet they only trailed 29-23. Cooper got the defense he wanted. Just not the offense.

“I felt good about going in at halftime to be down by six,” Cooper said. “I thought we defended well."

Montana State Billings 86, Seattle Pacific 77

Mayes

Robert Mayes scored four of his 13 points during the final 26 seconds Saturday as Montana State Billings turned away a late rally by Seattle Pacific at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

The Yellowjackets snapped the 24th ranked Falcons' five-game winning streak win the victory.

SPU faced its largest deficit of the season, trailing by 15 points on three occasions in the second half. But they scored nine straight points, all on three-pointers, to draw within 73-68.

Billings stopped that surge when David Arnold drained a difficult turnaround jump shot in the key at the end of the shot clock, stretching the lead to 75-68 with 2:12 showing on the game clock.

SPU came even closer when Riley Carel followed his own layup with a trey that brought his team within 80-77 with 44 seconds left to play.

Billings scored the game's final six points, including a put-back by Mayes with 26 seconds remaining after he knocked the ball away from a SPU defender to earn the offensive rebound.

Two Arnold free throws at 0:14 and two charity shots by Mayes at 0:03 completed the scoring.

Both of SPU's double-digit scorers tallied all of their points during the second half. Jobi Wall scored 14 points and Cory Hutsen had 13.

Five Yellowjackets reached double-figures led by Arnold's 16 points. Antoine Proctor scored 14 while Jaxon Myaer and Emery Henning had 11 apiece.

Billings utilized 14 steals to force the Falcons into a season-high 24 turnovers.

That proved to be the difference as SPU had the edge in shooting 47 percent (26 of 55) to 46 percent (26 of 56) and won the rebounding battle by a 36-29 margin.

The Falcons played the majority of the second half without their two season scoring leaders, Andy Poling (15.9 ppg) and David Downs (15.2 ppg). Coach Ryan Looney felt those two were ineffective and played reserves instead.

A 6-foot-11 junior post player, Poling led SPU with eight first-half points. He played the opening 2:23 of the second half before sitting out the rest of the game.

Downs, a sophomore point guard, scored seven points before departing for good at 13:26.

SPU trailed by 12 points when Carel entered to direct the team for the rest of the game.

Central Washington 101, Simon Fraser 83

Johnson

Jody Johnson scored a career-high 33 points and hauled down 13 rebounds leading Central Washington to an 18-point road victory at Burnaby.

Johnson, whose previous scoring high had been 26 points, had 21 points in the first half alone helping Central to a 50-35 halftime advantage.

CWU shot 55.4 percent from the floor (36-65) in breaking the 100-point barrier for the second time in three contests.

Lacey Haddock, Kevin Davis and Jordan Colby also were productive for the Wildcats.

Davis scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half on six of nine shooting. He also rejected six Clan shots.

Johnson made all six of his second-half shots when the Wildcats shot 61.3 percent (19-31). For the game, he converted on 13 of 17.

Haddock had a total of 21 points on six of nine shooting. He made two of three treys and seven of eight foul shots. He has now scored 20 or more points in four of Central's last five games, and is shooting 70.3 percent (26 of 37) over his past three games.

Coby scored in double figures for the fifth straight game, finishing with 14 points including 12 from three-point range where he made four of seven.

Simon Fraser (6-11, 1-8) was led by Jordan Sergent, who had a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Justin Brown added 21 points on eight of 14 shooting.

Also in double figures for the Clan were Connor Lewis with 11 points and Zack Frehlick and John Bancock with 10. SFU shot 47 percent (31-66) but was just eight of 30 from the arc and were outrebounded by the Wildcats 42-28.

Women's Basketball: Seawolves Extend Conference Lead

Holmstead

It was a good night for Alaska Anchorage even before it took the floor at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Seawolves (17-3, 8-1), taking advantages of losses by their two closest pursuers, opened up a two-game lead in the GNAC race at the midpoint of the conference season with a 83-48 win over Saint Martin's.

Earlier in the day, both Western Washington (12-5, 6-3) and Seattle Pacific (12-5, 6-3) sustained their third conference losses of the season.

Bobbi Knudsen hit a free throw with 3.4 seconds left in overtime and Montana State Billings (13-7, 5-4) hung on to beat Seattle Pacific 63-62 at Brougham Pavilion.

Alli Dzhidzhiyeshvili had 20 points and six steals to lead Northwest Nazarene (11-6, 5-4) to a 75-62 home win over Western Washington.

Simon Fraser (11-6, 6-3) nearly suffered a similar fate but scored the game's final five points to pull out a 67-64 win against Central Washington and move into a three-way tie for second with the Vikings and Falcons.

Meanwhile, Alaska Fairbanks (6-13, 2-7), which ended a 21-game conference game losing streak Thursday, won its second consecutive contest defeating Western Oregon 69-68 at The Patty Center.

Haley Holmstead scored 23 points and Hanna Johansson grabbed 14 rebounds to lead 14th-ranked Alaska Anchorage to its win.

The Seawolves also got 12 points from freshman guard Gritt Ryder and 10 points from Kaylie Robison.

The Saints (7-12, 2-7) got 18 points from reserve Jordyn Richardson and 10 points from Chelsey Haskey as they lost for the sixth straight time in Anchorage.

UAA had a season-high 30 turnovers forced in Thursday's win over Western Oregon and kept up that pace at the outset Saturday, pressuring the Saints into 17 first-half giveaways.

Meanwhile, the Seawolves connected at a 51.4 percent shooting clip in the opening stanza to build a 36-19 halftime lead.

Ryder drained an NBA-range three-pointer to cap a 9-0 run at the outset of the second half, and the lead grew as high as 81-40 with two minutes remaining.

Point guard Sasha King matched her career-high for the third straight game with seven assists, while Robison also tied a career-best with four of UAA's 17 steals.

Meanwhile, Holmstead, UAA's leading scorer at 14.9 ppg, was in rhythm all night, shooting 11 for 16 and grabbing three offensive rebounds.

Johansson, who came in as UAA's career field-goal percentage leader at .538, shot just three of 11 from the field but made up for it with a strong all-around game, tallying five assists, three steals and no turnovers.

The 6-2 center had eight of her 14 boards on the offensive end as she tied her second-highest rebounding effort in 118 career games.

Montana State Billings 63, Seattle Pacific 62

Knudsen

MSUB scored 20 consecutive points at one point in building a 39-25 halftime lead against Seattle Pacific.

But the Falcons rallied from a 16-point deficit early in the second half to gain a four-point lead at 57-53.

MSUB, however, tied the game at 57-57 getting a jumper by Knudsen with 2:51 left and a layup by Janiel Olson to tie it as SPU didn't score in the final 3:46.

The Yellowjackets' Quinn Peoples started the extra session with a three-pointer (her only points in the game).

SPU's Katie Benson then scored the next five points - a free throw, a lay-up to tie it at 60-60 and two more free throws to make it 62-60 with 1:07 left.

Kayleen Goggins tied it for Montana State Billings on a lay-up at the 47-second mark.

The Falcons turned it over under the basket with 20.3 seconds remaining, and the Yellowjackets, after calling timeout with 9.6 seconds left, wound up on the free throw line when Knudsen was fouled with 3.4 showing.

Knudsen hit her first, but missed her second. Seattle Pacific called timeout and inbounded on the sideline in back court. McKayla Gorman got off a three-pointer, but it fell short off the right side of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Knudsen finished with 18 points and also had four steals though she made just seven of 24 shots. Olson had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Nyesha Sims led Seattle Pacific tying her career high with 26 points, and made it a double-double – her seventh of the season – with 14 rebounds. Benson added 11 points.

Northwest Nazarene 75, Western Washington 62

King

Northwest Nazarene forced Western Washington into 25 turnovers and held the Vikings to a 36.1 shooting percentage in a 13-point win at the Johnson Sports Center on the NNU campus.

The Vikings entered the game ranked second nationally in three-point shooting at 39.4 percent and ninth in field-goal accuracy at 46.2 percent but made just 26 of 72 including five of 24 from the arc.

NNU also controlled the backboards 49-41 as Briaunna King had 14 rebounds to go along with her 17 points as she joined Dzhidzhiyeshvili, Chelsie Luke, Falissa Smith and Megan Hingston in double figures.

Luke had 16 points (and 10 rebounds), while Smith and Hingston each scored 10 as the five Crusader starters accounted for all but two of NNU's points.

Forward Trishi Williams led WWU with 15 points and nine rebounds. Two reserves had solid performances for the Vikings.

Katie Colard scored 14 points and Kayla Bernsen contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds, both season highs.       

NNU, which is 8-1 at home, scored the first nine points of the game, but the Vikings countered with 11 straight for their only lead (11-9).

The Crusaders used an 11-3 run for a 35-23 advantage, their biggest of the period, and led 39-30 at halftime.

WWU opened the second half with an 11-4 burst to close to within two (43-41) nearly five minutes into the period. The Vikings were still within two (48-46) with 10 minutes remaining.

WWU trailed by six (68-62) with three minutes to go, but were outscored 7-0 the rest of the way.

Simon Fraser 67, Central Washington 64

Raincock

Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe had 23 points and 16 rebounds and Simon Fraser outscored Central Washington 18-6 over the final 7:06 to beat the Wildcats at Nicholson Pavilion.

Central (5-11, 2-7), which hasn't beaten the Clan since 1988 when the Wildcats won the NAIA District 1 title, led most of the way before a put back lay-up by Erin Chambers with 26.5 seconds left tied the game.

Chambers was fouled on the play and converted the ensuing free throw to give Simon Fraser a 65-64 lead.

Following a timeout, the Wildcats had an opportunity to go ahead, but a turnover underneath the basket returned possession to SFU.

On the ensuing possession, Amber Moser blocked Raincock-Ekunwe's fastbreak lay-up attempt but Marie-Line Petit was there for the rebound basket with 5.4 seconds.

Jessica VanDyke's contested three-pointer at the final buzzer rimmed off and Simon Fraser escaped with the victory.

In addition to Raincock-Ekunwe the Clan was also led by Kristina Collins and Chelsea Reist with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

VanDyke and Sophie Russell paced the Wildcats with 19 points each, while Alex Dunn had 12 points and seven assists.

VanDyke made eight of 13 shot attempts but had just three field-goal tries in 17 second-half minutes.

Central outrebounded SFU 45-40 as Dunn and Stacy Albrecht each had nine. Simon Fraser had a narrow 39.7 (27-68) to 39.4 (26-66) shooting percentage. CWU, however, made just six of 15 free throws.

Alaska Fairbanks 69, Western Oregon 68

Nicole Hartzog

Nicole Bozek made two foul shots with 5:15 left to give Alaska Fairbanks the lead and the Nanooks went on to beat Western Oregon to complete a 2-0 weekend.

It's the first time UAF has had back-to-back conference wins since it defeated Western Washington and Central Washington on Feb. 28, 2008 and Mar. 1, 2008.

UAF trailed 57-51 with 7:02 remaining before going on a 14-2 run. The Nanooks scored on eight of nine positions to go ahead 65-59 with 2:37 left.

That included Bozek's go-ahead free throws, a basket by Taylor Altenburg, one of two foul shots by Altenburg after a technical on the WOU bench and two foul shots by Nicole Hartzog.

WOU (4-15, 3-6) took advantage of a foul on a three-point attempt with three seconds left to cut a four-point deficit to one as Lorrie Clifford made all three free throws.

WOU then immediately fouled Kelly Logue with 0.9 remaining. Logue missed both attempts but Nicole Bozek got the offensive rebound to secure the win.

Hartzog led the Nanooks with 18 points, while Bozek and Altenburg had 14 and 13 points, respectively. Hartzog also had five of UAF's 11 steals.

Clifford led Western Oregon with 17 points, while Melissa Fowler had 13 and Amber Reade scored 11.

Thursday, Jan. 19

Men's Basketball: Thompson Keys Seawolf Victory

Thompson

Travis Thompson scored a career-high 22 points and Marcus Jackson added 13 points lifting Alaska Anchorage to a 66-55 road victory over Western Oregon Thursday at the New P.E. Building in Monmouth.

The win moved the Seawolves (12-4, 6-2) into a three-way for second place in the GNAC with the Wolves (13-4, 6-2) and idle Seattle Pacific (6-2). All three teams are one game back of league-leader Western Washington (7-1).

Meanwhile, Saint Martin's (8-9, 4-4) moved into a tie for fifth with Montana State Billings (4-4) rallying from an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat Alaska Fairbanks 70-53.

JB Pillard nearly had a 20/20 performance as Northwest Nazarene (9-7, 3-5) earned a 88-81 road win at Simon Fraser in the final game of the night.

In addition to Thompson's career night, Alaska Anchorage also got eight assists from Steve White in a game in which its leading scorer Taylor Rohde was held to four points as he played only 14 minutes due to foul trouble.

Western Oregon was led by Kyle Long with 12 points, but the Wolves suffered their second straight home loss after a 13-2 start to their campaign.

After WOU scored the game's first basket, Thompson knocked down the first of his six three-pointers to stake UAA to a lead it would never relinquish.

Thompson made all five of his first-half three-pointers and his only two-point attempt to help the Seawolves claim a 37-22 lead at the break.

Rohde, a 6-9 center who averages 21.1 points per game, picked up his third and fourth fouls less than one minute into the second half, but UAA got a big lift off the bench from reserve Liam Gibcus and continued to control the tempo.

WOU pulled within 41-33 with 15 minutes to play but Gibcus answered with a midrange jumper and Kyle Fossman knocked down a three-pointer, and the Seawolves' lead swung between 11 and 17 for the rest of the night.

Gibcus, a 6-10 junior from Lysterfield, Australia, finished with five points, four rebounds and two assists, while his three blocked shots were both a career- and UAA season-high.

Thompson, meanwhile, topped his previous career-high by two points, finishing seven of nine from the field and six of seven from long range. He also snagged a career-high six rebounds as Seawolves outboarded WOU 33-27.

In addition to Long, who increased his career point total to 978 points, Western Oregon also got 11 points from Blair Wheadon and 10 from Jordan Freelander.

Saint Martin's 70, Alaska Fairbanks 53

Brok Pendleton

Saint Martin's shot 65.4 percent in the second half to overcome an eight-point halftime deficit and defeat Alaska Fairbanks at Marcus Pavilion.

Brok Pendleton scored 17 of his game-high 22 points after intermission to lead the Saints to their third straight win. SMU missed just nine shots after the intermission cashing in on 17 of 26.

The Saints, who opened the second half with a 16-4 run, also got 16 points from Roger O'Neill and 14 from Jeremy Green. O'Neill made seven of 11 shots, including his only two three-pointers.

Point guard Brady Bomber had 13 points as he made three of four treys. He also had six assists without a turnover.

Bomber has had 19 assists and just one turnover during SMU's three-game win streak and is working on a string of 92 consecutive minutes without a turnover during which he has been credited with 17 assists.

Sergej Pucar had a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Nanooks (4-14, 1-7). Ben Teer had 14 points and Stefan Tica scored 10. Teer made six of nine shots and also had a team-high five assists.

UAF outrebounded the Saints 38-30, but SMU had just four turnovers, missing the GNAC single-game record by just one. Western Washington set the record of three against Western Oregon on Jan. 9, 2010.

Northwest Nazarene 88, Simon Fraser 81

JB Pillard

JB Pillard led four players in double figures with a 22 point, 19 rebound double-double as Northwest Nazarene defeated Simon Fraser at Burnaby, B.C.

Pillard, who set a career-high with his rebound total, paced a balanced NNU offensive effort that included Anthony Golden with 19 points, Jonathan Hawkins with 18 and C.J. Shula with a season-high 13.

Golden now has 990 career points and could become the 48th player in GNAC history to reach the 1,000-point mark Saturday when the Crusaders play at Western Washington.

Justin Brown led the Clan with a game-high 23 points and Jordan Sergent finished with a 20 point, 10 rebound double-double.  Connor Lewis added 15 points and a game-best five assists.

The Crusaders, who opened up a 45-28 halftime lead, held the the Clan to 38.6 percent (22-57) shooting on the night and a 23.8 percent (5-21) clip from the three-point line. 

SFU converted 32 of 39 free throws, while the Crusaders were 23 of 30 (76.7 percent), in a game that featured 46 fouls called. Brown made 15 of 17.

Brown made nine of nine fouls shots in the second half as the Clan closed a 19-point deficit (59-40) early in the half, climbing to within nine (75-66) with 4:39 left. But, they never got closer than the final seven-point margin.

Women's Basketball: Crusaders Knock Off Simon Fraser

King

Alli Dzhidzhiyeshvili scored 20 points and Briaunna King had 19 points and 13 rebounds as Northwest Nazarene surprised Simon Fraser 76-72 Thursday at Nampa.

In other games Thursday, first-place Alaska Anchorage outscored Western Oregon 86-58, Western Washington defeated Central Washington 85-71 and Alaska Fairbanks won its first conference game of the season beating Saint Martin's 62-51.

The Crusaders (10-6, 4-4) evened their conference record with the win as they rallied from a five-point second-half deficit.

SFU (10-6, 5-3) led 54-49 with 12:28 remaining, but King put NNU ahead for good 63-62 with a basket at 6:13, then converted a three-point play for a four-point lead (66-62) with 4:24 remaining.

The Clan later pulled to within three points on four different occasions, including 75-72 on a basket by Kristina Collins with nine seconds left, but never got closer.

After Collins' final field goal, NNU's Falissa Smith clinched the win making one of two foul shots.

NNU led by as many as 11 points in the first half (30-19) and were up by eight (39-31) at halftime before the Clan used a 23-10 run to start the second half and pull ahead. SFU shot 56.0 percent (14-25) in the period.

Collins led the Clan with 22 points, while Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Chelsea Reist had 13 points.

Northwest Nazarene outrebounded Simon Fraser 41-27, finishing with 22 offensive caroms and converting them into 19 second-chance points.

The Crusaders also had 14 steals including five by Dzhidzhiyeshvili forcing SFU into 25 turnovers.

Alaska Anchorage 86, Western Oregon 58

Sasha King

Point guard Sasha King scored a career-high 22 points and Kaylie Robison recorded a double-double as Alaska Anchorage (16-3, 7-1) maintained a one-game lead over idle Seattle Pacific and Western Washington (12-4, 6-2) with its victory.

The Seawolves, who are ranked 14th nationally, also got 14 points on four of five shooting from Hanna Johansson as they connected at 50.8 percent from the field (30-59) and forced 30 turnovers.

The Wolves (4-14, 3-5) were led by 18 points and three assists from forward Rylee Peterson. Lorrie Clifford was the only other WOU player in double figures with 13 points.

After trading baskets to begin the game, King put UAA ahead for good with the first of her four three-pointers, and the lead grew quickly to 19-6.

The visitors later mounted a comeback, drawing within 25-21 on Dijana Topalovic's three-pointer at the 8:48 mark, before the Seawolves took control with seven straight points in a 22-second span.

Tijera Mathews (8 points, 4 assists, career-high 6 steals) started the surge with a three-pointer, followed by a back court steal and layup by King.

UAA kept up the pressure after that, with Mathews deflecting another pass toward Alysa Horn, who fed Johansson for another layup. The lead grew to 37-21 on a three-pointer from Kylie Burns and the Seawolves took a 42-29 advantage at halftime.

Peterson sliced her team's deficit to 42-34 early in the second half before King answered with five straight points.

King made eight of 11 shots, including four of five three-pointers. She also had a career-high-tying seven assists and five steals.

Meanwhile, Robison did most of her damage in the second half to finish with 12 points and 11 rebounds – her fifth double-double of the season.

UAA, which has won 16 straight at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, also won for the 16th straight time over WOU extending the longest streak in program history against any opponent.

Western Washington 85, Central Washington 71

Waltrip

Corinn Waltrip and Trishi Williams combined for 42 points as Western Washington defeated Central Washington at Nicholson Pavilion.

The game started nearly one hour late as the arrival of the officiating crew was hampered by poor weather conditions.

Waltrip had a game-high 22 points, 11 in each half, and Williams scored 20, 15 of those in the second period. Waltrip connected on five of eight three-pointers and Williams, who was eight of 12 from the floor, also had eight rebounds and five assists.

Guard Kristin Schramm added 15 points, 11 in the first period, and seven rebounds for the Vikings.

CWU (5-10, 2-6) got 16 points each from Sophie Russell and Alex Dunn. Jessica Van Dyke had 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Wildcats and reserve Stacy Albrecht contributed 10 points.

Midway through the first half, WWU scored 12 straight points to begin a 24-6 run over a span of 8:28 for a 15-point lead (39-24) on a three-pointer by Waltrip with 1:56 left in the period. The Vikings led 43-29 at halftime.

CWU began the second half with a 14-2 run, cutting WWU's lead to 45-43 with 16:34 remaining.

The Vikings, however, responded by scoring 20 of the next 26 points to go ahead 65-49 with 11:01 remaining following three straight baskets by reserve center Kayla Bernsen.

The Wildcats pulled within nine points twice including 67-58 with 7:19 left. WWU, however, then scored 10 straight, six by Waltrip, for its biggest lead of 19 (77-58) with five minutes remaining.

WWU, which entered the game ranked fourth nationally in three-point percentage at 38.6 percent and 14th in three-makes per game (7.8), hit nine of 17 treys (52.9 percent) and was 54.1 percent (33-61) overall from the floor.

It was the eighth straight series win and 16th in 17 meetings for WWU, which leads the all-time series 81-10.

Alaska Fairbanks 62, Saint Martin's 51

Nicole Bozek

Nicole Bozek had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead Alaska Fairbanks to its first conference win since last January as the Nanooks (6-13, 1-7) snapped a 21-game GNAC losing streak.

Bozek made eight of 16 shots and also had two of UAF's four blocked shots.

The Nanooks also got 11 points each from Nicole Hartzog and Taylor Altenburg.

Chelsea Haskey accounted for nearly 40 percent of Saint Martin's offense, scoring 19 of its 51 points and grabbing 14 of their 34 rebounds. Of SMU's 34 rebounds, only one came off the offensive glass.

SMU (7-11, 2-6) outshot Alaska Fairbanks 40.8 to 33.3 percent even though they draw a blank on three-pointers (0 of 11). The Saints, however, were perfect from the foul line (11 of 11).

The Nanook, however, had more scoring opportunities as they outrebounded the Saints 43-34 and had nine fewer turnovers (19-28).

Wednesday, Jan. 18

Men's Basketball: Western Washington Topples Central

John Allen

John Allen poured in 32 points on 12 of 14 field goal shooting leading Western Washington to a 99-86 triumph over arch-rival Central Washington Wednesday in a regionally televised game on ROOT Sports.

The Vikings, who are ranked 22nd in the latest NABC Division II national poll, improved to 16-3 and took over sole possession of first place in the GNAC at 7-1 with the home-court win at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

WWU leads Western Oregon (6-1), which hosts Alaska Anchorage (5-2) Thursday, by one-half game.

Rory Blanche had 16 points for WWU, hitting the 1,000 mark in career scoring on a 10-foot floater with 14:40 to play and concluding the night with 1,006 points.

CWU, the defending GNAC champion, fell to 8-8 overall and 2-6 in the GNAC with its fifth loss in the last six games. Guard Lacy Haddock had 20 points to pace the Wildcats, who fell to Western for the sixth time in the last seven meetings.

Central was within six (70-64) with a little over seven minutes to go, but then Allen took over, scoring the next 12 Viking points to put WWU in front 82-68 with 4:02 remaining. The Wildcats got no closer than nine points after that.

The Vikings never trailed, hitting five of their first six shots from the floor to take a 9-2 lead. WWU led by as much as 10 in the first half, and held a 41-35 lead at halftime.

Paul Jones had 14 points off the bench for WWU, which shot 56.3 percent (36-64) from the field. That is the second highest percentage by an opponent against CWU this season.

Zach Henifin had 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Also in double figures with 10 points was Richard Woodworth.

Kevin Davis, Tyler Toussaint and Jordan Coby had 16 points each and Davis and Roby Clyde each had 13 rebounds for the Wildcats, which had a 42-37 advantage on the boards.

Blanche is the 22nd player in WWU history and the ninth during the GNAC era (since 2001-02) to reach 1,000 points. He is the 47th GNAC player to reach that milestone.

Tuesday, Jan. 17

Men's Basketball: Western Washington Ranked 22nd

Western Washington and Seattle Pacific are ranked 22nd and 24th in this week's NABC Division II men's basketball coaches poll.

Neither team was ranked last week, but both won a pair of road games to improve to 15-3 and 14-3, respectively.

Western Washington will risk its ranking Wednesday in a regionally televised game against Central Washington (8-7). Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

The game is the first of three GNAC games this winter that will be televised by ROOT Sports. The network will also televise both the GNAC men's and women's conference championship games on Saturday, Mar. 3 at Lacey, Wash.

In addition to the Vikings and Falcons, Alaska Anchorage also received votes in this week's national poll and were 33rd overall.

Western Oregon, which was 26th last week, did not receive any votes after losing at home to Saint Martin's Saturday. The only other West Region team ranked this week is Cal Poly Pomona at No. 20.

Seattle Pacific Second in Scoring Defense

Seattle Pacific is ranked second in scoring defense in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report. The Falcons, who are surrendering only 55.9 points per game, trail only Tarleton State, Tex. (51.9).

SPU also ranks sixth in rebounding (9.2) and seventh in field goal percentage defense (37.6).

Alaska Anchorage is second in both assists (21.7) and assist/turnover ratio (1.68). Central Washington is third in blocks (6.2) and Northwest Nazarene is fourth in three-pointers made (10.4).

UAA's Travis Thompson is the highest ranked individual. He is second in assist/turnover ratio (3.52).

Three GNAC players are ranked eighth - Anthony Golden of NNU in three-pointers made (3.3), David Downs of SPU in three-point percentage (49.5) and Kevin Davis of Central Washington in blocked shots (2.9).

Women's Basketball: Alaska Anchorage Slips To No. 14

A loss to Simon Fraser last Thursday cost Alaska Anchorage a Top 10 ranking in this week's USA Today ESPN Division II Top 25 women's basketball poll.

The Seawolves (15-3) fell from eighth to 14th in this week's poll. Two other GNAC teams - Western Washington (47th overall) and Seattle Pacific (49th overall) - were among "others receiving votes".

UC San Diego (16-0) was a near unanimous No. 1 receiving 26 of 31 first-place votes. Grand Canyon (12-1), Cal Poly Pomona (11-2) and Cal State Monterey Bay (11-2) are ranked 12th, 17th and 22nd.

NNU's Dzhidzhiyeshvili 12th In Steals

Dzhidzhiyeshvili

Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili of Northwest Nazarene ranks 12th in steals in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report.

The top ranked GNAC player is Jordan Harazin of Seattle Pacific, who ranks ninth in assist/turnover ratio at 2.43.

Also in the Top 15 are Briaunna King of Northwest Nazarene, 13th in double-doubles (8) and Sasha King of Alaska Anchorage, 15th in assist/turnover ratio (2.03).

Alaska Anchorage has six Top 10 team rankings, including No. 1 in scoring margin (24.9). The Seawolves are fourth in rebounding (13.1) and assists (19.0), sixth in scoring (80.7) and eighth in field goal percentage (46.1) and field goal defense (32.7).

Seattle Pacific has four Top 10 rankings - eighth in assists (18.2), ninth in free throw percentage (78.2) and 10th in rebounding (10.4) and fewest fouls (13.8).

Western Washington ranks fourth in three-point percentage (39.6) and 10th in field goal percentage (45.6). Central Washington ranks third in three-pointers (8.9). MSU Billings is ninth in fewest turnovers (13.9).

Monday, Jan. 16

Football: Helwege to Play In Tucson All-Star Game

Wide receiver Justin Helwege will represent Central Washington in the 2012 Casino Del Sol All-Star Game tonight at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium in Tucson, Ariz.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (5 p.m. Pacific). It can be seen on Fox Sports Arizona (DIRECTV 686 and DISH Network 415).

Helwege, who completed both his football eligibility and the requirements for his Bachelor's degree in law and justice at CWU this past fall, is one of just four players from a NCAA Division II institution selected to compete in the game.

The 6-foot-5, 218-pounder will play for the Stripes team, which will be coached by former Fresno State mentor Pat Hill.

Among Helwege's teammates on the Stripes squad will be former Washington State quarterback Marshall Lobbestael, whose older brother John played baseball at CWU during the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Helwege was a unanimous first-team GNAC all-conference selection during his final season with the Wildcats.

He totaled 51 receptions for 717 yards and eight touchdowns finishing his four-year career ranked 12th in school history in receiving yards (1,522) and 13th in receptions (99).

FB Recap: HSU's Rowells Establishes 11 Records

Rowells

Humboldt State running back Lyndon Rowells set nine GNAC records and tied two others during the 2011 season.

His marks were among 35 set and 20 tied, according to final official figures released by the conference office Monday. (Click here for updated GNAC Football Record Book).

Rowells set new single season marks for rushing yards (1,417), rushing yards per game (141.7), all-purpose yards (1,672) and all-purpose yards per game (167.2).

He also set career marks for rushing touchdowns (29), rushing yards per game (129.8), 100-yard rushing games (14), 200-yard rushing games (4) and points per game (9.1).

He tied his own GNAC records for single-season 100-yard (7) and 200-yard (2) rushing games.

Rowells was one of five players to set or tie three or more records as individuals accounted for 36 of the new marks, setting 23 and tying 13.

Dixie State freshman quarterback Stefan Cantwell set one record and tied four others. Dixie return specialist Cache Morgan set three records, while Red Storm kicker Jameson Schultz tied three conference marks.

Western Oregon place-kicker Kelly Morgan, who will take a string of 56 consecutive extra points made into the 2012 season, also accounted for three records, setting one and tying two. He was a perfect 38 of 38 on PATs this season.

In all a total of 15 different players set or tied records during the 2011 season. An additional 12 team records were broken and seven others were tied.

In addition to his 11 records, Rowells won three major conference statistical titles for the second year in a row leading the GNAC in rushing (1,417 yards), scoring (90 points) and all-purpose yards (1,672 yards).

Humboldt quarterback Mike Proulx also won three titles, finishing first in passing yards (2,888 yards), passing efficiency (152.4 rating) and total offense (2,942 yards).

Lumberjack kicker Brian Blumberg was the conference leader in kick scoring (8.3 points per game), field goals (13) and field goal percentage (13 of 17 for 76.5 percent).

Joe Don Duncan of Dixie State led the way in receptions (6.4) and receiving yards (94.9) becoming the first tight end in GNAC history to win those two statistical titles.

Dominique Gaisie of Central Washington was the punt return leader (11.3 per return), Dixie's Cache Morgan led the way in kick returns (23.5) setting league marks for most returns (43), yards (1,012) and longest return (100). WOU's Scott Buche was the punting leader (39.4).

In defensive categories, end Justin Capicciotti of Simon Fraser was the leader in sacks (10) and tackles for losses (16). SFU linebacker Casey Chin led the way in tackles per game (8.2), while Western Oregon's Scotland Foss was the leader in total tackles (84).

Western Oregon defensive back Isaiah Buchanan led in passes defended with 14 including 13 breakups. WOU DB Bryce Peila was the pace-setter in interceptions with nine, returning them for a GNAC single-season record 243 yards.

In team categories, Humboldt State, which won its first GNAC conference title, was the leader in virtually every major team category including scoring (35.9), scoring defense (19.7), total offense (464.9), total defense (330.0), passing offense (295.1), passing offense efficiency (148.2), passing defense (208.2) and passing defense efficiency (107.4).

The only two major category titles to escape the Lumberjacks were rushing offense and rushing defense and they finishing second behind Simon Fraser (188.0) and Central Washington (118.5), respectively, with averages of 169.8 and 121.8.