Wednesday, March 6, 2019

PORTLAND, Ore. – Back in October, Alaska Anchorage forward/center Hannah Wandersee was named the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year entering her senior season with the Seawolves. Five months and five consecutive regular-season conference championships later, the Kodiak, Alaska native is back in a familiar spot.

Wandersee was selected by coaches as the 2018-19 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year, leading the selections to the GNAC Women's Basketball All-Conference Team.

The senior met her Preseason Player of the Year expectations and then some, leading her team back to a regular-season title. Wandersee finished the regular-season at the top of the UAA scoring list and inside the top-five throughout the league with an average of 14.3 points per game. Along the way she picked up three GNAC Player of the Week honors, leading the conference in the award that's issued throughout each week of the season.

Joining his top player on the GNAC's superlative list is Alaska Anchorage head coach Ryan McCarthy. McCarthy was named the league's Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career after guiding his team to a 27-1 (19-1 GNAC) record.

Simon Fraser sophomore Ozi Nwabuko was named the Defensive Player of the Year after excelling throughout the season on one of the conference's top defensive teams. This is Nwabuko's second conference superlative honor after taking the Freshman of the Year award two years ago.

Rounding out this year's special awards are Saint Martin's guard/forward Claire Dingus (Freshman of the Year) and Concordia sophomore Olivia Vezaldenos (Newcomer of the Year). Dingus is the second straight Saint to be named Freshman of the Year, while Vezaldenos won the GNAC's scoring title this season.

A two-time First Team All-Conference selection, Wandersee tops a full list of upperclassmen to earn First Team All-GNAC recognition. Wandersee is joined by Northwest Nazarene's Avery Albrecht and Ellie Logan, Central Washington guard Alexis Pana, Concordia guard Keesha Sarman and Simon Fraser forward Sophie Swant. 

Albrecht and Logan assisted the Nighthawks to a second-place finish throughout a spectacular season that once saw the team climb as high as No. 1 in the country. Albrecht leads the GNAC and is No. 5 nationally in free throw percentage (91.4 percent), helping her lead NNU with 13.8 points per game. Logan is close behind, averaging 11.3 points per game while shining on the defensive end of the floor with a team-high 23 blocks.

Carrying her team both offensively and defensively, Pana led a Central Washington team to improved overall and conference win totals on the 2018-19 campaign. The junior's name is all over the top of multiple statistic categories throughout the GNAC, ranking first in assists (5.0 per game) and field goal percentage (52.7 percent), second in assist-turnover ratio (1.8), fifth in steals (2.12) and sixth in points (14.2).

Rounding out the First-Team backcourt is Sarman, whose sensational senior campaign helped Concordia clinch its first-ever trip to the GNAC Championships. Sarman tops the Cavaliers in rebounds (7.8 per game), assists (4.4) and steals (2.6), while ranking second in scoring behind the Newcomer of the Year Vezaldenos with 13.4 points per game. 

Swant's senior season sparked Simon Fraser to a third-place finish, finishing the regular season with a record of 17-10 (13-7 GNAC). She paced the Clan with 14.4 points per game and was the team's leading scorer in 11 of those contests. One of her biggest performances of the season came in an upset of No. 1 Northwest Nazarene back in January, when she tallied a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds against the Nighthawks.

Alaska Anchorage and Simon Fraser led the GNAC with four all-conference selections. Of the 27 players, 10 were seniors while six were repeat selections.

2018-19 GNAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Player of the Year: Hannah Wandersee, Alaska Anchorage
Coach of the Year: Ryan McCarthy, Alaska Anchorage
Defensive Player of the Year: Ozi Nwabuko, Simon Fraser
Freshman of the Year: Claire Dingus, Saint Martin's
Newcomer of the Year: Olivia Vezaldenos, Concordia

* - Unanimous Selection   
+ - First Team Selection in 2017-18
# - Second Team in 2017-18
@ - Honorable Mention in 2017-18
% - Second Team in 2016-17
! – Honorable Mention In 2014-15