Wednesday, March 1, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – Just days after wrapping up decorated collegiate basketball careers, elementary education majors Jordan Wilson, from Alaska, and Tiana Hanson, from Montana State Billings, both represented the GNAC on the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-American Division II Team.

The GNAC’s all-time leader in field goals made, Wilson recorded a 3.94 grade point average to earn an Academic All-American First Team selection. Wilson is the GNAC’s third leading scorer and ranks in the top 10 in the nation with 21 points per game. The senior scored at least 30 points in four games in her senior year, including a 30-point effort in an overtime game against No. 4 CSU-Pueblo.

Wilson led the Nanooks in scoring 16 times in 27 games this year and was twice named the GNAC Player of the Week. She ranked in the top 10 in Division II in field-goal percentage, making 56.3 percent of shots, including 212 of 371 from inside the arc. Wilson finishes her career at Alaska ranked fourth in GNAC history in scoring with 1,783 points.

Hanson recorded a perfect 4.00 GPA as a second team selection. She is one of three players with a 4.00 GPA to be selected to the first or second team. Hanson saw her role change in her senior season with the Yellowjackets right before the season began when Preseason GNAC Player of the Year Alisha Breen went down with an injury that would keep her out for the rest of the year. Hanson stepped into the role of leader on the court for the Yellowjackets, leading the team in scoring, rebounding or both in 26 of 28 games on the season.

Hanson led MSUB in scoring in all of the last six games, including a GNAC-best 53 points in the final week of the season to be named GNAC Player of the Week. In the final game of the year, Hanson made 14 of 15 free throws to become the program’s all-time leader in free-throw percentage. She finished the year averaging 17.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Those stats both rank in the top four in the GNAC, making Hanson the only player to rank in the top four in both categories.

Wilson is the third Academic All-American First Team selection in GNAC women’s basketball history and the first from Alaska since 1989. Hanson, meanwhile, is the third to earn second-team recognition and the first to do so since 2014.