Wednesday, March 11, 2020

GNAC’S BEST GEAR UP FOR WEST REGIONAL: Packing their bags for Honolulu, three GNAC women’s basketball teams will advance to the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship. Alaska Anchorage, Northwest Nazarene and Western Washington received their bids in Sunday’s selection show.

No. 2 seed Alaska Anchorage earned the conference’s automatic berth into the West Region, hosted by Hawaii Pacific at the Shark Tank, after they defeated Western Washington, 89-68, in the final of the GNAC Championships on Saturday at Brougham Pavilion. First Team All-GNAC senior guard Safiyyah Yasin was named the tournament’s most valuable player after she scored 57 points in two games to lead the Seawolves to their sixth GNAC Championships title. The Seawolves earned the No. 2 seed in the West Region under 2019-20 Coach of the Year Ryan McCarthy.

The Seawolves are 31-2 overall (19-1 GNAC) and are riding a 13-game win streak. The conference regular-season and tournament champions will play the team that they just beat as the Seawolves will have a rematch with No. 7 seed Western Washington in the first round at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. The victor will face the winner of the noon matchup between No. 6 Northwest Nazarene (22-7) and No. 3 UC San Diego (25-5).

Also on Friday, No. 8 Cal Poly Pomona will face top-seed and host Hawaii Pacific at 5 p.m. while No. 4 Cal State San Marcos will play No. 5 Azusa Pacific in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m.

Alaska Anchorage is 3-0 against non-conference West Region opponents. The Seawolves beat Chaminade and San Francisco State at their own Seawolf Hoops Classic in November and then won at Hawaii Hilo on Dec. 22. The Seawolves won both meetings with No. 6 Northwest Nazarene and split with No. 7 Western Washington in the regular season before beating the Vikings in the tournament final.

Yasin and senior point guard Yazmeen Goo both earned First Team All-GNAC honors this year. Yasin is fifth in the conference in scoring with 15 points per game while ranking third with two steals per game. Goo is averaging 10.1 points and 3.9 assists per game while ranking third with a .568 field goal percentage.

The Vikings were the only conference team to beat the Seawolves this year, winning a 71-64 contest on Jan. 23 in Bellingham. The Vikings (22-9, 14-6 GNAC) returned to the final for the seventh time and the first time since 2017. It was also the fifth time that both the Western Washington men and women advanced to the title game in the same year.

The Vikings are 2-2 against non-conference regional opponents, which includes a 76-68 loss to No. 3 UC San Diego and a 77-73 loss at No. 5 Azusa Pacific at the West Region Crossover Classic in November. The Vikings split with both the Nighthawks and the Seawolves in the regular season before beating the Nighthawks in the GNAC quarterfinals.

The Vikings are led by senior center Anna Schwecke. A First-Team All-GNAC selection, Schwecke is averaging 12.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She leads the conference with a .611 field goal percentage while also ranking third with a .856 free throw percentage.

Junior guard Emma Duff is averaging 11.1 points per game and leads the Vikings with 6.8 rebounds per game. Senior guard Lexie Bland is averaging 9.5 points per game and is fifth in the conference with 3.9 assists per game.

The Nighthawks are 1-1 against non-conference regional opponents, losing to No. 1 Hawaii Pacific and beating Stanislaus State in November in Ellensburg. The Nighthawks fell to the Vikings in Friday’s semifinals.

The Nighthawks are led by the 2019-20 GNAC Player of the Year in senior guard Avery Albrecht. Albrecht is fourth in the GNAC in scoring with 15.2 points per game while also averaging 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 assists per game. She ranks ninth in the conference with a .488 field goal percentage.

Senior guard Marina Valles averages 14.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while ranking second in the GNAC with 4.2 assists per game. A two-time Second Team All-GNAC selection, Valles leads the conference and ranks seventh in Division II with 92 steals while also ranking eighth in Division II with 3.17 steals per game.

GNAC TEAMS IN THE NCAA WEST REGIONAL
ALASKA ANCHORAGE
• Alaska Anchorage won its sixth GNAC Championships title and its first since 2017 under 2019-20 GNAC Coach of the Year Ryan McCarthy with a 79-77 win over Central Washington in Friday’s semifinal and an 89-68 win over Western Washington in Saturday’s final at Royal Brougham Pavilion. The Seawolves are also the regular-season champions, finishing with a 19-1 conference mark.

• Senior guard and First Team All-GNAC selection Safiyyah Yasin was named the tournament’s most valuable player after she averaged 28.5 points and two rebounds per game in two games. Yasin opened the tournament with a career-high 31 points against Central Washington in the semifinals, making her the first Seawolf to score 30 or more points in a game since Hannah Wandersee in 2018. Yasin then led the Seawolves in the final with 26 points on 9 of 13 from the field, 2 of 2 from three-point range and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.

• First Team All-GNAC senior point guard Yazmeen Goo is averaging 10.1 points, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game. She ranks second in the GNAC with a 1.8 assist-turnover ratio and third with a .568 field goal percentage.

• Honorable mention junior forward/center Tennae Voliva is averaging 9.4 points and two steals per game. She is fifth in the conference with 7.3 rebounds per game and 12th with a .481 field goal percentage. Voliva was selected to the 2019-20 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Division II Academic All-District 8 Team.

• The Seawolves rank sixth in Division II with 12.8 steals per game and a +21.0 scoring margin. They also rank eighth in turnover margin (+8.06) and 16th in scoring defense (55.2 points per game).

• The Seawolves (31-2) earned the conference’s automatic berth and the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II Championship’s West Regional, hosted by Hawaii Pacific in Honolulu. The Seawolves will face No. 7 Western Washington in the first round on Friday.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene lost 66-63 to Western Washington on Friday in the GNAC Championships semifinals at Royal Brougham Pavilion. The Nighthawks shot just 34.5 percent from the field in the loss.

• Senior guard Avery Albrecht led the Nighthawks with 21 points on 7 of 17 from the field to go with six rebounds and four steals in the loss. Albrecht was named the 2019-20 GNAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year after leading the Nighthawks to the No. 2 seed in the GNAC Championships. Albrecht is fourth in the GNAC in scoring with 15.2 points per game. She is also averaging 5.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while ranking ninth in the conference with a .488 field goal percentage and a .808 free throw percentage.

• Alongside Albrecht is senior guard Marina Valles, a Second Team All-GNAC selection in 2019-20. Valles is averaging 14.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and ranks second in the conference with 4.2 assists per game. Valles has been a defensive weapon for the Nighthawks, ranking seventh in Division II with 92 steals and eighth with 3.17 steals per game.

• Sophomore forward Erin Jenkins is averaging 11.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Her .482 field goal percentage ranks 11th in the conference.

• The Nighthawks lead the GNAC and rank 20th in Division II with 77.5 points per game. They also rank sixth in Division II with 23.31 turnovers forced per game and third with 14.2 steals per game and a +8.72 turnover margin.

• The Nighthawks are 1-1 against non-conference regional opponents, losing to Hawaii Pacific and beating Stanislaus State in November in Ellensburg.

• The Nighthawks (22-7) earned the No. 6 seed in the West Region and will face No. 3 UC San Diego on Friday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington beat Montana State Billings (69-54) in Thursday’s quarterfinals and Northwest Nazarene (66-63) in Friday’s semifinals before bowing out to top-seeded Alaska Anchorage in the GNAC Championships title game (89-68) on Saturday at Royal Brougham Pavilion.

• Junior forward Kelsey Rogers led the Vikings with 46 points in the tournament. Her week included a game-high 24 points to go with two rebounds and two blocks in the Vikings’ win over Northwest Nazarene. Rogers is averaging 10.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game and ranks 10th in the GNAC with a .485 field goal percentage.

• Senior center Anna Schwecke earned First Team All-GNAC honors in 2019-20. She is averaging 12.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game while leading the GNAC with a .611 field goal percentage and ranking third in the conference with a .856 free throw percentage.

• Junior guard Emma Duff is averaging 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while senior guard Lexie Bland ranks fifth in the conference with 3.9 assists per game.

• The Vikings lead the GNAC in field goal percentage (.467), assists per game (17.35), rebounds margin (+8.4) and blocked shots per game (5.03). Their .467 field goal percentage also ranks 14th in Division II.

• The Vikings are 2-2 against non-conference regional opponents. The Vikings lost 76-68 to No. 3 UC San Diego and 77-73 to No. 5 Azusa Pacific at November’s West Region Crossover Classic.

• The Vikings earned the No. 7 seed in the West Region and will have a rematch with No. 2 Alaska Anchorage in the first round on Friday. This is the fourth meeting between the two teams. The Vikings split the regular-season series with the Seawolves before losing in the GNAC Championships final.