Thursday, March 13, 2014

POMONA, Calif. – Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year Bobbi Knudsen of Montana State Billings and unanimous first-team all-conference selection Erin Chambers of Simon Fraser were each named Daktronics first-team all-region honorees.

Seattle Pacific senior Katie Benson was the only other GNAC player to receive all-region honors, as she was voted to the Daktronics second-team.

Knudsen, who earlier was a unanimous choice for GNAC Player of the Year, is averaging 17.2 points and leads the conference in assists per game with 5.9 per contest.

Chambers, a junior this season, is the GNAC’s leading scorer with 22.6 points per game and is shooting 48.8 percent from the field this season.

Benson ranked second in the GNAC in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 19.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in her final collegiate season.

Earning West Region Player of the Year honors was Jada Blackwell of Cal Poly Pomona, who leads the Broncos into the NCAA West Regional tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and host school.

Krystal Forthan of the Academy of Art and Haley Holmstead of Dixie State were the other two first-team all-region selections in the West.  Holmstead was a second team all-region selection in 2012 for Alaska Anchorage before transferring to Dixie State.

Players selected to the region first team will now be listed on the Daktronics All-American national ballot.  The All-American team will be announced Monday, March 24.  The Daktronics team is selected by the region's sports information directors.

DAKTRONICS ALL-REGION: First Team – Jada Blackwell, Cal Poly Pomona (C, 6-1, Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, CA – Arizona State); Krystal Forthan, Academy of Art (F, 6-4, So., Portland, OR – Louisiana State); Haley Holmstead, Dixie State (G, 5-8, Sr., American Fork, UT – Alaska Anchorage); Bobbi Knudsen, Montana State Billings (G, 5-8, Sr., Malta, MT - Malta); Erin Chambers, Simon Fraser (G/F, 6-1, Jr., Mission BC – Heritage Park) Second Team – Katie Benson, Seattle Pacific (F, 6-2, Sr., Snohomish, WA - Snohomish); Ariel Marsh, Cal Poly Pomona (G, 5-8, Jr., Chino Hills, CA – Citrus College); Monay Lee, Cal State Dominguez Hills (G, 5-7, So., Huntington Beach, CA - Edison); Courtney Hamilton, Cal State Chico (G, 5-8, Sr., Walnut Creek, CA - Northgate); Morganne Comstock, Hawaii Pacific (C, 6-2, Jr., Seattle, WA – Eastern Washington).