Tuesday, February 23, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. – Four GNAC women’s basketball teams were back on the hardwood last week, including a pair of matchups with two conference teams in Seattle.

Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene split their two-game series on Friday and Saturday while Saint Martin’s handled Northwest (Wash.) in both of their meetings. Montana State Billings played just one game last week, securing a 12-point victory over Rocky Mountain College on Wednesday.

Saint Martin’s junior forward Claire Dingus has been on a tear this season as she earned the GNAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week award for the third time this week. Dingus finished with back-to-back double-doubles against Northwest (Wash.), averaging 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. On Friday, she scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds in a 94-55 victory, making 8 of 11 from the field and 2 of 3 from three-point range. On Saturday, she finished with 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block as the Saints ran away with an 84-59 win.

Central Washington and Western Washington will both open their seasons on Friday. The Wildcats will host Seattle Pacific in Ellensburg while the Vikings will head to Lacey to play at Saint Martin’s.

No GNAC teams were included in the first NCAA Division II West Region Rankings, which were released on Feb. 17. The second set of regional rankings will be announced on Wednesday, Feb. 24.

Beginning this year, the first two regional rankings provided by the regional advisory committee do not list teams by their rank but rather as an alphabetical list of teams “under consideration” for postseason selection. The third week will feature an actual ranking of eight teams. The NCAA will announce the six teams selected for the postseason from each region on Sunday, March 7.

Due to the reduced number of teams competing in the West Region due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the region is comprised for the 2020-21 season of teams from the GNAC, PacWest Conference and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Listed among the teams under consideration for the West Region in the first ranking include Black Hills State, Colorado Mines, Colorado Mesa, Concordia (Calif.), Hawaii Pacific, Point Loma, Western Colorado and Westminster (Utah).

AROUND THE GNAC
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings took care of business in its only game of the week, beating crosstown rival Rocky Mountain on Wednesday, 69-57.

• Junior forward Cariann Kunkel led both teams in scoring with 23 points on 6 of 11 from the field, 3 of 4 from three-point range and 8 of 10 from the free throw line. She also finished with eight rebounds, four assists and a steal. Kunkel is averaging 13.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

• Junior guard Addison Gardner just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds to go with three assists and a steal. She is averaging 7.3 points and five rebounds per game.

• An Honorable Mention All-GNAC selection in 2019-20, junior forward Taryn Shelley leads all GNAC players with 17.5 points per game and a .574 field goal percentage. She is also second among conference players with 8.8 rebounds per game.

• Montana State Billings improved to 3-1 on the season. The Yellowjackets have four games remaining on their schedule, all against Northwest Nazarene. The Yellowjackets will host the Nighthawks on Friday and Saturday.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• After having three straight games postponed, Northwest Nazarene was back in action with a weekend split at Seattle Pacific. The Nighthawks dropped Friday’s game, 66-61, before bouncing back to handle the Falcons on Saturday, 61-47.

• Junior forward Erin Jenkins led Northwest Nazarene to the 1-1 weekend, averaging 13.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. Jenkins led all scorers with 17 points on 8 of 13 from the field to go with four rebounds, two assists and a steal in the loss on Friday. She came back to finish with 10 points and three rebounds in Saturday’s win. Jenkins is fifth among conference players with 11.8 points per game and third with a .488 field goal percentage.

• Freshman forward Teagan Thurman came up big for the Nighthawks with 15 points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist off the bench in Friday’s loss. She just missed a double-double in Saturday’s win with nine points and 10 rebounds.

• Sophomore forward Nicole Gall was just one of two Nighthawks to score in double digits in Saturday’s win. She led all scorers with 17 points off the bench on 6 of 9 from the field and 5 of 7 from the free throw line.

• Northwest Nazarene is now 4-5 on the season. The Nighthawks will host Eastern Oregon tonight in Nampa and then will play at Montana State Billings on Friday and Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• After a two-game home series against Northwest Nazarene on Feb. 12 and 13 was postponed, Saint Martin’s was back in Marcus Pavilion to take on Northwest (Wash.). The Saints blew away the Eagles, 94-55, on Friday before completing another rout on Saturday, 84-59.

• Junior forward Claire Dingus was named the GNAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the third time this season after posting double-doubles in both games. Dingus finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, five steals, three assists and a block on Friday. She followed that with a monster game of 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block on Saturday. Dingus shot 66.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range in the two games. She leads all GNAC players with 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game and is second with 16.7 points per game and a .543 field goal percentage.

• Freshman forward Rian Clear also had herself a week. She put up 20 points and five rebounds on Friday then topped that with 21 points on Saturday to go with two rebounds, and three steals. Clear connected on 53.6 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from beyond the arc in the two wins.

• Senior guard Tierney DeDonatis scored in double digits in both games, finishing with 13 points on 5 of 11 from the field on Friday before finishing with 14 points on 5 of 7 from the field and 3 of 4 from deep on Saturday. DeDonatis ranks third among conference players with 3.4 assists per game and seventh with 10.3 points per game.

• Saint Martin’s moves to 5-4 on the season and is above .500 for the first time this season. Up next, the Saints will host Western Washington on Friday before heading to Bellingham to play the Vikings again on Saturday.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific split a two-game series with Northwest Nazarene at Brougham Pavilion on Friday and Saturday. A fourth-quarter comeback led the Falcons to a 66-61 win on Friday, but the Nighthawks took Saturday’s game, 61-47.

• Junior forward Ashley Alter was the only SPU player to score in double digits in both games. Alter, scored 16 points to go with three rebounds and three steals in Friday’s win. She finished the week with 11 points and six rebounds in Saturday’s loss. Alter ranks third among GNAC players with 13.3 points per game and second with 2.1 steals per game.

• Junior forward Natalie Hoff led the Falcons in scoring in Saturday’s loss with 15 points on 6 of 11 from the field to go with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. She also registered nine points, six rebounds and three assists on Friday. Hoff is averaging 9.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

• Seattle Pacific is now 7-5 on the season entering its final four games. The Falcons will play a home-and-home series against Central Washington on Friday and Saturday.