Monday, January 13, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – Mark McLaughlin of Central Washington and Sydney Donaldson of Western Washington have been selected as the Red Lion GNAC Men’s and  Women’s Basketball Players of the Week for Jan. 6-12.

McLaughlin scored 66 points and also had 16 rebounds in leading the Wildcats to home wins over Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon, while Donaldson had 36 points, 24 rebounds, nine steals and nine blocked shots as the Vikings ran their home win  streak to 24 with victories over Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene.

Men – Mark McLaughlin, Central Washington (G, 6-6, Sr., Bothell, WA – Inglemoor & Tacoma CC) scored 66 points, including 39 in a 106-103 double overtime win over Western Oregon.  McLaughlin, who is averaging nearly 30 points per game (29.4) in five conference contests and 26.3 overall, made seven of nine three-pointers in the two contests, including a trey with 10 seconds left in the first overtime to force the second extra five-minute period against WOU.  Overall, he connected on 17 of 34 shots and 25 of 26 foul shots, including 16 of 16 against the Wolves.

Honorable Mention – Austin Bragg, Western Washington (C, 6-9, Sr., Longview, WA – Mark Morris & Clark CC); David Downs, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-2, Sr., Kirkland, WA – Bellevue Christian); Michael Loomis, Northwest Nazarene (G, 6-6, Fr., Tualatin, OR – Horizon Christian); Ronnie Baker, Alaska Fairbanks (G, 6-3, Sr., Vallejo, CA – Diablo Valley CC); Isaac Bianchini, Saint Martin’s (G, 6-0. Fr., Sedro Woolley, WA).

Women – Sydney Donaldson, Western Washington (F, 6-0, Jr., Edmonds, WA – Edmonds-Woodway) averaged a double-double (18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds) in a pair of WWU victories as the  Vikings extended their home win streak to 24 and moved above .500 on the season  (7-6, 3-2 in the GNAC). Donaldson had 21 points while grabbing nine rebounds, blocking five shots and dishing out five assists in a 71-64 victory over Central Washington Thursday. The junior shot 8-for-10 from the field and 4-for-6 from beyond the 3-point line. On Saturday, she turned in 15 points while collecting 15 rebounds and posting four blocks and four assists in a 81-68 win over Northwest Nazarene. In all, Donaldson shot .583 from the field (14-for-24) and totaled nine assists and nine blocks against just three turnovers.

Honorable Mention – Chelsie Luke, Northwest Nazarene (G, 5-9, Sr., Meridian, ID – Meridian); Erin Chambers, Simon Fraser (G/F, 6-1, Jr., Mission, BC – Heritage Park); Angela Gelhar, Saint Martin’s (G, 5-6, Jr., Vancouver, WA – Prairie); Jordan Wilson, Alaska Fairbanks (F, 5-11, Fr., Henderson, CO – Prairie View); Betsy Kingma, Seattle Pacific (G, 5-11, Jr., Bellevue, WA - Newport).