Wednesday, February 15, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – A pair of 4.00 grade point average performers lead 55 players on the court and in the classroom as part of the 2022-23 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team, presented by Barnes and Noble College.

Alaska sophomore guard Destiny Reimers and Western Washington sophomore guard Maddy Grandbois headline the team. Reimers owns a 4.00 GPA as a rural development major while Grandbois holds her 4.00 GPA as an interdisciplinary studies major. Of the 55 selections, 14 have a GPA of 3.90 or higher.

Reimers has been a top-five offensive threat for the Nanooks this season, averaging 9.1 points per game to rank 31st in the GNAC while shooting 43.4% from the field and 24.3% from three-point range. She also pulls in an average of 4.8 rebounds per game and dishes out 2.6 assists per contest.

Grandbois has played in all 22 games of the Vikings’ season and is averaging 5.1 points and three rebounds per game while shooting 38.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the three-point arc.

The All-Academic Team features 36 repeat honorees including four four-time selections, 13 three-time honorees and 17 two-time award-winners. The four-time All-Academic players include Montana State Billings senior forward Taryn Shelley, Seattle Pacific senior forward Natalie Hoff, Simon Fraser senior forward Sophie Klassen and Western Washington senior guard Avery Dykstra.

Dykstra leads the quartet of four-time GNAC All-Academic players with a 3.72 GPA as a business management major. Dykstra has been a valuable contributor for the Vikings this season, starting all 22 games WWU has competed in and ranks seventh in the conference with .90 blocked shots per game while shooting 40.4% from three-point range.

Montana State Billings leads all teams with 10 players on the team, followed by Seattle Pacific and Western Washington with eight honorees.

To qualify for the GNAC All-Academic Teams nominees must be of sophomore eligibility or greater, have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20 or greater on a 4.00 scale, be on the team roster for the full season and must be in their second year at the nominating institution.