Monday, December 3, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. - Western Oregon's Devon Alexander, who matched the GNAC single-game record for most steals in a conference game, and Montana State Billings' Janiel Olson are the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Red Lion Men's and Women's Basketball Players of the Week for their performances during the Week of Nov. 26-Dec. 2.

Men’s Basketball: Devon Alexander, Western Oregon (G, 6-1, Fr., Fontana, CA) came off the bench to score 48 points, including 28 in a 118-113 triple overtime win over Central Washington Saturday as the Wolves extended their win streak to six games with a pair of home victories. Alexander scored nine of WOU’s 13 points in the decisive third overtime period. He also had 13 steals, including a GNAC-record tying eight (for conference contests) in a 92-84 win against Northwest Nazarene Thursday.  In the two contests, Alexander made 16 of 29 shots, including four of six three-pointers.  He also converted on 12 of 13 foul shots, grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists.  Honorable Mention – Brandon Magee, Central Washington; Rei Jensen, Saint Martin’s; Patrick Simon, Seattle Pacific; Kenny Jones, Northwest Nazarene; David Gebru, Simon Fraser; John Allen, Western Washington.

Women’s Basketball: Janiel Olson, Montana State Billings (F, 5-10, So., Billings, MT) scored 21 points and grabbed 26 rebounds leading the Yellowjackets to 66-59 and 69-68 home wins over Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, respectively. She also led MSUB in steals with seven. Olson had 13 points and 11 rebounds in Thursday’s win against CWU, then had a career-high 15 rebounds, 10 at the offensive end in Saturday’s one-point victory against Northwest Nazarene. Her final rebound came on a three-point miss by Monica Grimsrud with 24 seconds left.  She then fed Grimsrud, who scored on a layup for the decisive basket.  Honorable Mention – Suzanna Ohlsen, Seattle Pacific; Megan Hingston, Northwest Nazarene; Nayo Raincock-Ekuwne, Simon Fraser; Britt Harris, Western Washington.

Indoor Track and Field: Men – Michael Davis, Saint Martin’s (So., Seattle, WA – Chief Sealth) and Scott Hunter, Central Washington (Sr., Hilo, HI)  ... Davis and Hunter each finished second for the best individual finishes by GNAC male athletes in the Jackson’s Open at Nampa.  Davis placed second in the triple jump with a school-record leap of 45-7 ¾.  He also finished sixth in both the 60 meters (7.08) and long jump (21-1 ¼).   Hunter placed second in the heptathlon with a score of 4,457.  He had the best mark among the heptathlon athletes in the pole vault with a vault of 14-11. Honorable Mention – Eric Gaines, Western Oregon.  Women – Stephanie Kellogg, Saint Martin’s (Jr., Enumclaw, WA) and Alex Anderson, Western Oregon (Fr., Rockaway Beach, OR) ... Kellogg and Anderson each posted provisional national qualifying marks in the triple jump at Nampa.  Kellogg finished third with a school-record leap of 38-1 ½, one-quarter inch farther than Anderson’s fourth-place jump of 38-1 ¼.  Those two marks rank sixth and seventh in GNAC history.   Kellogg also finished sixth in the long jump with a school-record mark of 17-6 ¾.  Anderson, meanwhile, also won the high jump with a mark of 5-5.