Monday, December 12, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – Solid performances in conference games for Alaska Anchorage’s Autummn Williams and Montana State Billings’ Marc Matthews have earned the duo selections as the GNAC Players of the Week.

Williams earrned the honor for the second consecutive week after she led the Seawolves in a 73-57 road victory over Alaska on Saturday. The senior scored a UAA season-high 26 points against the Nanooks as she connected on 11 of 17 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range. She added four rebounds, three assists and four steals in the win.

Williams has helped lead Alaska Anchorage to a 7-1 overall record and a 3-0 GNAC mark. She enters the week ranked third in the GNAC in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game, is second in steals at 2.8 per game, seventh in field goal shooting at 55.8 percent (58-104) and eighth in assists at 4.3 per game. The Seawolves will play three games in Hawaii over the next week as they face BYU-Hawaii on Tuesday, Chaminade on Wednesdsy and at Hawaii Hilo on Saturday.

Matthews, meanwhile, opened his week by leading Montana State Billings to a 79-71 GNAC win over Western Oregon on Monday. He scored 20 points on 8 of 16 from the field to go along with four rebounds and three assists. On Saturday, Matthews exploded for 29 points, including a 7 of 10 performance from the three-point line, to lead MSUB past cross-town NAIA rival Rocky Mountain 95-85. He finished 10 of 14 from the field and added five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.

With the wins, Montana State Billings has now won five of its last six games to improve to 6-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Matthews enters the week averaging 14.2 points per game and is fifth in the GNAC with 2.8 three-pointers made per game. The Yellowjackets will not play again until they return to conference play on Thurs., Dec. 29, at Simon Fraser.

GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS – WEEK 15
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Marc Matthews (Montana State Billings, G, 6-2, Sr., Sierra Vista, Ariz. - Buena): Matthews led the Yellowjackets in scoring in both games last week. He scored 20 points on 8 of 16 from the field to go along with four rebounds and three assists in MSUB’s 79-71 GNAC win over Western Oregon on Monday. Matthews finished one short of his career high with 29 points on 10 of 14 from the field and 7 of 10 from three-point range, to lead the Yellowjackets to a 95-85 non-conference win on Saturday over down-the-street rival Rocky Mountain. Also Nominated: Christopher Edward (Concordia), Maurice Jones (Northwest Nazarene), Logan Adams (Saint Martin’s).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Autummn Williams (Alaska Anchorage, F, 5-10, Sr., Rochester, N.Y. – Univ. of Little Rock): Williams earned her second straight Player of the Week selection after she led the Seawolves with 26 points in a 73-57 GNAC road win over Alaska on Saturday. She connected on 11 of 16 from the field and 3 of 6 from three-point range to go along with four rebounds, three assists and four steals.