Tuesday, November 26, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Great Alaska Shootout, hosted by Alaska Anchorage, headlines a slate of five Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournaments this week. The annual tournament in Anchorage runs Tuesday through Saturday, with women’s games set for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The field for the women’s tournament includes Division I Georgetown, Nicholls and UC Riverside, and the five-day affair is sponsored by Carrs and Safeway. Games will be played at the Sullivan Center in Anchorage, and CBS Sports will carry live coverage of select contests.

In other action, Alaska Fairbanks is set to host the UAF North Star Invitational this weekend, and the Nanooks are the only GNAC team scheduled to play on Thanksgiving with a 4 p.m. Alaska time start against Dominican University.

Northwest Nazarene, Western Oregon, and Western Washington each hosts tournaments as well, as preseason play wraps up this weekend.

In the latest Women’s Basketball Coaches Association top-25 poll, Seattle Pacific took a major leap, up 14 spots to No. 9. NNU cracked into the top-25 after hovering on the bubble, as the Crusaders were slated No. 25.

Western Washington fell out of the top-25 after a slow 1-3 start this season.

RECAP

Seattle Pacific’s (6-0) Katie Benson earned her second-straight Red Lion Player of the Week award, but it was a last-ditch three point shot by Betsy Kingma that kept the Falcons undefeated to start the 2013-14 season. With the score tied at 63-all against UC San Diego on Friday, Kingma drained a three at the buzzer to push SPU to the victory and ultimately into the top-10 across Division II.

The Seawolves (4-0) kept their perfect start alive with a pair of victories in Hawaii last week. Alli Madison led the way with 20.5 points per contest while shooting 46 percent from the field.

NNU (4-0) head coach Ryan Bragdon hasn’t looked back since earning his first career collegiate victory, as the Crusaders continued their hot start with a 73-60 win over Montana Western on Saturday. NNU will host the Northwest Nazarene Invitational this weekend, with games against Colorado Christian and Cal Baptist to close out its 2013-14 preseason slate.

Alaska Fairbanks (4-1) snapped its best start in 10 seasons with a two-point loss at the hands of Hawaii-Hilo last Monday. Freshman Jordan Wilson continues to impress, as she currently ranks fourth in the GNAC in scoring with 18.6 points per game in her first collegiate season. 

Since dropping its first game of the season, Montana State Billings (4-2) has won four straight preseason contests. The Yellowjackets scored 102 points in a win over Great Falls, and 2013-14 GNAC preseason Player of the Year Bobbi Knudsen is a perfect 19-of-19 from the foul line so far this season.

Saint Martin’s (3-1) and Simon Fraser (3-1) each won a pair of contests last week to push their winning streaks to three games. SMU’s Chelsea Haskey averaged 14.5 points per contest, while the Clan’s Erin Chambers currently sits tied with SPU’s Benson as the leading scorer in the conference with 21.3 points per game.

Central Washington (2-1) downed Quest on Saturday in blowout fashion, notching 101 points in the 35-point victory. The Wildcats travel to Nampa this week to participate in the Northwest Nazarene Invitational. 

Western Washington (1-3) saw its early season woes continue last week, dropping a pair of contests in the Azusa West Region Crossover. The Vikings will look to recover as they host the WWU Lynda Goodrich Classic this weekend in Bellingham.

Western Oregon (0-3) was off last week, and will seek its first win of the season as it hosts the WOU Capital City Classic this weekend.