Tuesday, January 10, 2023

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Brooke Walling
Western Washington
F • 6-3 • Jr. • Vancouver, Wash.

Walling secured Women’s Basketball Player of the Week honors after helping WWU remain undefeated in GNAC play in an 82-70 win over CWU on Thursday and an 86-70 win over NNU on Saturday. Between the two victories, Walling averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game while adding seven assists, seven blocks and six steals. She connected on 53.6% of her shots from the field. Walling’s week was highlighted by a double-double of 21 points and 15 rebounds in Saturday’s win where she went 8 for 14 from the field. 

Also Nominated: Destiny Reimers (Alaska), Malie Marfli (Alaska Anchorage), Samantha Bowman (Central Washington), Cariann Kunkel (Montana State Billings), Anna Eddy (Seattle Pacific), Jessica Wisotzki (Simon Fraser)

AROUND THE GNAC

ALASKA
• Alaska earned a huge win for the program with a 61-56 victory over in-state rival Alaska Anchorage on Saturday that snapped a 16-year losing streak to the Seawolves.

• The Nanooks’ defense proved to be a deciding factor and was on full display in the fourth quarter where it held UAA to just five points on two field goals that came seven minutes apart.

• Offensively, UAF was led by sophomore guard Destiny Reimers who put together a strong performance with 25 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Reimers went 10 for 17 from the field while knocking down 4 of 7 from three-point range.

• Defense has been an area of strength for the Nanooks all season. They rank third in the GNAC allowing opponents a three-point percentage of just .287 and also rank fourth in the conference allowing an average of .375 from the field.

• Alaska will finish a three-game homestand this week as it hosts Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday.

ALASKA ANCHORAGE
• Alaska Anchorage dropped the final contest of its five-game road trip with a 61-56 loss at Alaska on Saturday, marking the first time the Seawolves have fallen to the Nanooks since 2007.

• With leading scorer Vishe’ Rabb out due to an injury sustained in practice, sophomore guard Malie Marfil stepped up to head the Seawolves’ scoring effort. Marfil notched a career-high 14 points to go along with four rebounds, an assist and a steal. She shot 5 for 9 from the field and 4 for 5 from the free-throw line.

• Senior guard Nicole Pinckney also tacked on a double-digit scoring performance with 13-points to go with an assist. Pinckney is tied for eighth in the conference with 3.1 assists per game through 14 contests. She leads the GNAC and ranks sixth in Division II with a 3.67 assist to turnover ratio.

• Alaska Anchorage will return home this week to host Central Washington on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington dropped consecutive games for the first time this season with an 82-70 loss to Western Washington on Thursday and a 65-57 loss to Simon Fraser on Saturday.

• Despite the losses, senior center Samantha Bowman put together an impressive week. Bowman averaged 29.5 points and 17 rebounds per game to go with four assists and two blocks en route to eclipsing the 1,000 career rebound mark. She led all scorers with a double-double of 36 points and 15 rebounds against the Vikings and followed that up with a double-double of 23 points and 19 rebounds against the Red Leafs. Bowman leads the GNAC and Division II with 231 rebounds, 11.9 defensive rebounds per game, 15.4 total rebounds per game and 127 field goals made.

• As a team, the Wildcats rank top-two in the conference in points per game (77.5), scoring margin (+15.5), field goal percentage (.460), field goal percentage defense (.347), three-point percentage defense (.254), rebounding offense (45.3), assists per game (17.2), defensive rebounds per game (33.7) and three-point field goals made per game (9.1).

• Central Washington will look to bounce back this week as they travel to face Alaska Anchorage on Thursday and Alaska on Saturday.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings took a pair of road wins last week with a 66-58 victory at Saint Martin’s on Thursday ahead of a 59-58 decision at Western Oregon on Saturday.

• Senior forward Cariann Kunkel was the leading scorer on the week for MSUB, averaging 12 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while adding four steals and an assist. Kunkel led the Yellowjackets in Thursday’s win with 14 points, five rebounds and two steals while shooting 40% from the field and 75% from the free-throw line.

• A balanced scoring effort in Saturday’s win over the Wolves saw four Yellowjackets score double-digits. Senior guard Shayla Montague led the way with 11 points while Dyuani Boyce, Taryn Shelley and Kunkel all added 10.

• Montana State Billings will open a three-game homestand by facing Seattle Pacific on Saturday for its only game of the week.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene took a pair of losses last week, falling 66-61 to Simon Fraser on Thursday and 86-70 to Western Washington on Saturday.

• Junior guard Cami Knishka was the leading scorer for the Nighthawks across both games, averaging 10.5 points and five rebounds per game. Her week was highlighted by a 12-point, six-rebound performance against the Vikings. She also added three blocks and a steal.

• Freshman forward Danika Starr was a steady presence at the free-throw line, knocking down 12 of 15 attempts for the week. She averaged 10 points and seven rebounds per game and added four steals and two assists in 35 minutes off the bench.

• The Nighthawks lead the GNAC with 15.86 free throws made and 23.07 turnovers forced per game.

• Northwest Nazarene will make the trip north to Alaska this week, facing the Nanooks on Thursday and the Seawolves on Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s dropped both of its games last week, falling 66-58 to Montana State Billings on Thursday and narrowly losing 52-50 to Seattle Pacific on Saturday.

• Freshman forward Sarah Lamet was the leading offensive threat for the Saints, averaging 14 points per game while shooting 72% from the field. Lamet opened the week with an 18-point performance against the Yellowjackets. She followed that up with 10 points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal on Saturday.

• Freshman guard Kiana Rios was the top-scoring player in Thursday’s contest against MSUB, knocking down 19 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and a steal. Rios ranks 15th in the GNAC with an average of 11.6 points per game and is the second-highest-scoring freshman player in the conference. Her .903 free throw percentage ranks second in the GNAC.

• Saint Martin’s will aim to stop a three-game skid this week as it travels to face Western Washington on Thursday and Simon Fraser on Saturday.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific extended its win streak to four games with a pair of wins on the road over Western Oregon, 70-61, and Saint Martin’s, 52-50.

• Sophomore guard Anna Eddy paced the Falcons through the two wins, averaging 15 points and six rebounds per game. She kicked off the week with a 19-point performance in the win over Western Oregon while adding four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Eddy shot 6 for 11 from the field and 6 for 7 from three-point range against WOU.

• Senior guard/forward Ashley Alter led the charge on Saturday with 14 points and six rebounds to go with two assists and a steal. She leads SPU on the year with an average of 15.7 points per game while shooting 43.6% from the field.

• Seattle Pacific has risen to second place in the GNAC standings and allows a conference-best 56.6 points per game. The Falcons’ +9.6 rebounding margin also ranks second in the GNAC.

• Seattle Pacific wraps up a three-game road trip at Montana State Billings for its only game of the week on Saturday.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser earned a pair of road wins last week with a 66-61 decision over Northwest Nazarene on Thursday before defeating Central Washington 65-57 on Saturday.

• Junior guard/forward Jessica Wisotzki led the way yet again for the Red Leafs, averaging 19.5 points per game while shooting 46% from the field and 44% from three-point range. Wisotzki leads the GNAC and ranks second in Division II in both points per game (23.1) and three-point percentage (.581).

• Defensively, sophomore forward Gemma Cutler put in work on the boards, dragging down an average of 10.5 rebounds per game while adding 9.5 points per game and five blocks for good measure. Cutler leads the GNAC and ranks second in Division II with three blocks per game. She also leads the conference and ranks 11th in the division with a .598 field goal percentage.

• Simon Fraser will return home this week to host Western Oregon on Thursday and Saint Martin’s on Saturday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon dropped both of its games at home last week, falling 70-61 to Seattle Pacific on Thursday and narrowly missing out 59-58 to Montana State Billings on Saturday.

• Junior guard Cali McClave and senior guard Princy Paaluhi-Caulk both averaged 15.5 points per game across the week. Their best nights both came against the Falcons where Paaluhi-Caulk led all scorers with 22 points while McClave recorded 18 points to go with seven rebounds. They also combined to knock down 19 of the Wolves’ 30 free-throw attempts between both games. McClave ranks fifth in the GNAC with an average of 16 points per game.

• As a team, the Wolves rank third in the conference with an average of 9.6 steals and 27.8 defensive rebounds per game.

• Western Oregon will hit the road this week to face Simon Fraser on Thursday and nationally-ranked Western Washington on Saturday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington remains the only team undefeated in conference play after extending its win streak to 11 games with road victories over Central Washington, 82-70, on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene, 86-70, on Saturday.

• Junior forward Brooke Walling was named the GNAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week after leading the Vikings with an average of 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. Walling also added seven assists, seven blocks and six steals across the two wins. She opened the week with 15 points and nine rebounds while shooting 50% from the field against the Wildcats. Walling followed that up with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds to go with four assists, three blocks and three steals.

• Senior forward Katrina Gimmaka led WWU in scoring on Thursday with a career-high 22 points while shooting 11 for 17 from the field. She ranks third in the GNAC with a .591 field goal percentage.

• The Vikings rose to No. 5 in D2SIDA Media Poll and stayed at No. 6 in the WBCA Coaches poll after the two wins.

•Western Washington will return home to face SMU on Thursday and WOU on Saturday.