Wednesday, October 26, 2016
PORTLAND – Big things are expected out of Montana State Billings’ senior forward Alisha Breen in the 2016-17 women’s basketball season. After averaging a conference-best 17.4 points per game last year, Breen has been selected as the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year.
This award comes after Breen was already named to the Super 16 list by Division II Bulletin. Breen received six out of a possible 10 first-place votes in the Preseason All-GNAC Team selection process. It is the second consecutive year that Breen has been a unamimous selection.
Last year, Breen guided the Yellowjackets to the NCAA West Regional Tournament as the No. 8 seed. She scored 31 points in the playoff game despite falling to No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific. In the GNAC Championships, Montana State Billings upset No. 2 seed Western Washington to reach the championship game and Breen scored 23 points with 10 rebounds and five assists in the victory.
“I definitely have something to live up to now,” Breen said on last week’s GNAC Insider about the preseason awards. “It gives me something to work towards now, not that I didn’t have that before. It’s almost like I have something to prove. Hopefully I can show everybody that I do deserve it.”
Also making her second appearance on the preseason all-conference team as a unanimous selection is Taylor Peacocke from Western Washington, who received two first-place votes. Peacocke averaged 16.8 points per game with 75 assists and 57 steals for the Vikings and was a First Team All-GNAC selection. She is joined on the list by teammates Kiana Gandy and Tia Briggs. Gandy averaged 11.5 points per game and was an All-GNAC Honorable Mention. Briggs, meanwhile, ranked second in the conference in field goal percentage, making 91 of 169 shots for a 53.8 percentage.
Simon Fraser’s Meg Wilson is one of three players to make the team for a third time and received one first-place vote. Wilson played in only two games last year before taking a medical redshirt. She scored 33 points with 16 rebounds, seven steals, five assists and two blocks in those two games before shutting down her season.
The other two first-place votes went to Wilson’s teammate Ellen Kett, who had a conference-best 7.1 assists per game. Kett was one of five players on the team averaging double-digit scoring. Elisa Homer also joined Wilson and Kett on the list. The junior scored a team-best 16.5 points per game, making 99 three-point field goals, which was the second best in the conference.
Defending GNAC Champion Alaska Anchorage was represented by both of its returning starters on the list as both Kiki Robertson and Alysha Devine were unanimous selections to the team. Robertson, chosen for a third time, had a conference-best 208 assists last year and registered 83 steals, while Devine averaged 8.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
Northwest Nazarene’s Ellie Logan was a unamimous selection to the team after pacing the league’s second-best scoring offense with 13.9 points per game. Logan had a season-high 27 points for the Crusaders in their 84-77 win against Central Washington to help secure a spot in the GNAC Championships.
Seattle Pacific had a pair of players on the list in Courtney Hollander and Jordan McPhee. Hollander led the Falcons in both scoring (12.8) and rebounding (8.1) last year to go along with 32 assists and 20 steals. McPhee was the team-leader in steals with 43, while averaging 11.7 points per game.
Jasmin Edwards was the lone representative for Central Washington, which went 17-12 last year and finished in a tie for 5th in the conference standings. Edwards scored 11.6 points per game and had a team-best 153 assists and 46 steals. Alaska was represented on this list for a third year in a row by Jordan Wilson, who was second in the conference in scoring with 17 points per game. In the Nanooks 75-66 win over Concordia last year, Wilson tallied 35 points and 12 rebounds.
The preseason all-conference team was rounded out by Elin Johnasson from Saint Martin’s. The Saint scored 16.5 points per game last year with a team-best 48 steals, helping the Saints to five conference victories last year.
GNAC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Alisha Breen, Montana State Billings
GNAC 2016-17 PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
| Name | School | Pos. | Ht. | Yr. | Hometown |
| *+Alisha Breen | Montana State Billings | F | 5-10 | Sr. | Choteau, Mont. |
| *+Taylor Peacocke | Western Washington | G | 5-9 | Sr. | Kenmore, Wash. |
| *++Meg Wilson | Simon Fraser | F | 6-1 | Sr. | London, Ontario |
| *Ellen Kett | Simon Fraser | PG | 5-7 | Sr. | Melbourne, Australia |
| *++Kiki Robertson | Alaska Anchorage | G | 5-7 | Sr. | Honolulu, Hawaii |
| *Alysha Devine | Alaska Anchorage | F | 6-0 | Sr. | Wasilla, Alaska |
| *+Ellie Logan | Northwest Nazarene | G | 5-9 | Jr. | Fossil, Ore. |
| *Courtney Hollander | Seattle Pacific | G | 6-0 | Jr. | Lynden, Wash. |
| *+Jasmin Edwards | Central Washington | G | 5-5 | Jr. | Lynnwood, Wash. |
| *++Jordan Wilson | Alaska | F | 5-11 | Sr. | Henderson, Colo. |
| *Kiana Gandy | Western Washington | F | 5-10 | Sr. | Des Moines, Wash. |
| *Tia Briggs | Western Washington | F | 6-1 | Sr. | Tacoma, Wash. |
| Jordan McPhee | Seattle Pacific | G | 5-10 | Jr. | Des Moines, Wash. |
| *Elisa Homer | Simon Fraser | G | 5-10 | Jr. | North Vancouver, B.C. |
| Elin Johansson | Saint Martin's | F | 6-1 | Jr. | Gothenburg, Sweden |
* - indicates unanimous selection + - indicates repeat selection