Thursday, March 14, 2024
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  One week removed from the GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships, the all-conference triple threat of Montana State Billings’ Kola Bad Bear, Western Washington’s Brooke Walling and Central Washington’s Asher Cai have all been named to the 2023-24 Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-West Region Team.

Reigning Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year Bad Bear and unanimous first-team all-conference selection Walling lead the trio as both earned selection to the first team. Cai was named to the second team after also being named a unainmous first team all-GNAC selection. Walling is the only repeat honoree from the conference to feature on the team after earning first-team honors a year ago.

Bad Bear has enjoyed an outstanding season for the Yellowjackets (26-6, 16-2 GNAC) as she led the team to its second regular season title in program history. The hometown hero joined the ‘Jackets after four years at Division I Montana State and has averaged a team-leading 16.7 points per game to rank sixth in the conference. Bad Bear also earned GNAC Newcomer of the Year honors in a season where she has picked up 6.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 0.8 blocks and 2.4 offensive boards per game while shooting 52.5% from the field and 84.7%  from the free throw line heading into the NCAA West Region Championships.

Walling led the Vikings (23-6, 14-4) to their second consecutive GNAC Championships title and runner-up in the regular season standings. The senior forward from Vancouver, Wash., earned selection to the all-region first team in a season where she is averaging 16.3 points per game to rank seventh in the league and has notched a conference-leading 13 double doubles which ranks 17th in the nation.  Heading into the NCAA West Region Championships, Walling is also averaging 8.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.8 blocks and 2.5 offensive boards per game while shooting a GNAC-leading 58.3% from the field that is good for 10th in Division II.

Cai makes the first appearance of her career on an all-region team after leading the conference and ranking 14th in the division with 19.5 points per game. The sophomore guard from Colfax, Wash., led the Wildcats (19-12, 10-8) to a tie for fourth place in the regular season standings and to the semifinals of the GNAC Championships on their home court where they narrowly fell, 62-60, to No. 1 seed MSUB. Cai earned her first all-region recognition while also picking up 8.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals, 2.6 three-pointers and 7.4 defensive boards per contest while shooting 40.9% from the field, 85.8% from the free throw line and 35.9% from long range.

The D2CCA Player of the Year award and all-region teams are nominated and selected by members of the region’s athletics communications staffs. Along with west region Player of the Year Jordan Vasquez of Cal State San Marcos, Bad Bear, Walling and the two other members of the all-west region first team will now be placed on the national ballot for All-America consideration. The All-America teams will be released on Tuesday, March 26.