Monday, January 6, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - Montana State Billings' Bobbi Knudsen, who had one of the top scoring games in GNAC history, and Saint Martin's Riley Carel and Alaska Fairbanks' Andrew Kelly, who led their squads to upsets of nationally ranked Seattle Pacific (11th) and Western Washington (15th), respectively, have been selected as the GNAC Women's and Men's Red Lion Players of the Week.

Knudsen had 55 points, including a career-high 37 in a 82-69 win over Western Washington Saturday.  She also had 12 assists and four steals as the Yellowjackets swept the Vikings and Simon Fraser.

The Player of the Week award for Knudsen is her second this year and the fifth in her career tying her for third place on the GNAC all-time list for most in women's basketball.

Carel had career highs for assists (8) and steals (5) and also contributed 17 points in SMU's 73-69 win over Seattle Pacific, just its third victory over the Saints in the 13 year history of the conference.

Kelly, meanwhile, had a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) as the Nanooks beat the Vikings 65-61 handing WWU a loss at The Patty Center for the second year in a row.

Women - Bobbi Knudsen, Montana State Billings (G, 5-8, Sr., Malta, MT) scored 55 points and also had 12 assists and four steals in leading the Yellowjackets to a sweep of Simon Fraser and Western Washington.  Knudsen was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and had five rebounds in the two wins, including a 81-63 victory over the Clan and a 82-69 defeat of the Vikings.   Knudsen had a team-high 18 points, six assists and two steals against SFU. In the win over WWU, she had a career-high 37 points, making 14-of-21 shots, including 3-of-4 from 3-point territory.  Her 37 points is the highest by a women’s player in the GNAC this season and equals the sixth highest total in GNAC history. “Bobbi Knudsen played a special game tonight,” head coach Kevin Woodin said after the win.  “She had 37 points, and had six assists to only one turnover.  It is probably one of the best perimeter games I have ever witnessed.”

Honorable Mention – Katie Colard, Western Washington; Taylor Simmons, Northwest Nazarene; Dana Goularte, Western Oregon; Brooke Paulson, Saint Martin's.

Men: Riley Carel, Saint Martin’s (G, 6-2, Jr., Enumclaw, WA) and Andrew Kelly, Alaska Fairbanks (F, 6-7, Sr., Gilbert, AZ – Chandler-Gilbert) ... Carel scored 29 points, including 17 in the Saints’ 73-69 win over nationally 11th ranked Seattle Pacific as the Saints beat the Falcons for just the third time in the 13-year history of the conference.  Carel also had career highs for assists (8) and steals (5) in the win, while also grabbing six rebounds and making seven of 12 shots.  Kelly scored 26 points and also had 19 rebounds and three blocked shots in wins over Simon Fraser (67-58) and nationally 15th ranked Western Washington (65-61) as the Nanooks beat the Vikings at The Patty Center for the second year in a row.

Honorable Mention:   Austin Bragg, Western Washington (C, 6-9, Sr., Longview, WA – Clark CC); Rodney Webster, Western Oregon (G, 6-1, Sr., Hanford, CA – Fresno City CC); Mark McLaughlin, Central Washington (G, 6-6, Sr., Bothell, WA – Inglemoor & Tacoma CC); David Downs, Seattle Pacific (G, 6-2, Sr., Kirkland, WA – Bellevue Christian); Kyle Fossman, Alaska Anchorage (G, 6-0, Sr., Haines, AK); Mario Donaldson, Northwest Nazarene (G, 6-3, Sr., Rockton, IL).