Tuesday, February 14, 2023

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Samantha Bowman
Central Washington
C • 6-3 • Sr. • Zillah, Wash.

Bowman earned her fourth GNAC Player of the Week award of the season after posting back-to-back 33-point games in a pair of wins for the Wildcats last week. She opened her week with a 33-point, 13-rebound double-double in Thursday’s win over Alaska to go with five assists, four steals and two blocks. Bowman followed that up with 33 points and 18 rebounds in Saturday’s win over Alaska Anchorage for her 20th double-double of the season.

Also Nominated: Sam Tolliver (Alaska), Vishe’ Rabb (Alaska Anchorage), Dyauni Boyce (Montana State Billings), Clare Eubanks (Northwest Nazarene), Chenoa Louie (Saint Martin’s), Jessica Wisotzki (Simon Fraser), Cali McClave (Western Oregon), Brooke Walling (Western Washington)

AROUND THE GNAC

ALASKA
• Alaska lost both of its games last week, dropping an 88-63 decision at Central Washington on Thursday and a 79-72 loss at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.

• Sophomore guard Sam Tolliver led the Nanooks for the week, averaging 17 points per game while shooting 50% from the field, 85% from three-point range and 76% from the free-throw line. Tolliver’s best performance of the week came on Thursday at Central Washington where she finished with 23 points on 8 of 13 from the field, 5 of 5 from long range and 2 of 3 from the free throw line.

• Junior guard Emma McKenney averaged 12.5 points per game for UAA in the two losses, shooting 53% from the field and 44% from three-point range. McKenney continues to be one of the most dangerous threats from long range in the conference, ranking second in the GNAC and ninth in Division II with a .455 three-point percentage.

• Alaska will play its final home games of the season this week, hosting Western Oregon on Thursday and Saint Martin’s on Saturday. 

ALASKA ANCHORAGE
• Alaska Anchorage was shuffled down the standings last week with a 78-75 overtime loss at Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and 87-56 loss at Central Washington on Saturday.

• The Seawolves put themselves in the driver’s seat to take a win on Thursday, bolstered by a second quarter where they outscored the Nighthawks 23-9 to take a 10-point lead into halftime. Northwest Nazarene pushed back in the second half, however, forcing overtime where UAA came up just short.

• Junior guard Vishe’ Rabb led Alaska Anchorage with 23 points per game while shooting 45% from the field and 93% from the free-throw line. Rabb’s week was highlighted by a 35-point explosion on Thursday where she went 9 for 21 from the field, 3 for 10 from long range and was a nearly perfect 14 for 15 from the free-throw line. She also finished with seven rebounds, four steals and two assists.

• Alaska Anchorage will look to take advantage of its final homestand of the regular season to return to postseason contention when it hosts Saint Martin’s on Thursday and Western Oregon on Saturday.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington took a pair of wins over the Alaska schools last week, defeating the Nanooks 88-63 on Thursday and beating the Seawolves 87-56 on Saturday.

• Senior center Samantha Bowman was named the GNAC Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after recording back-to-back 33-point performances in the two wins. Both 33-point nights were double-double performances for Bowman who leads the GNAC and ranks second in Division II with 20 on the season. She opened the week with 33 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks on Thursday. Bowman backed that up with 33 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal on Saturday.

• Record watch is in full effect in Ellensburg as Bowman closes in on the GNAC all-time rebounds record of 1,181 set UAA’s Rebecca Kielpinski in 2009. Bowman enters the week with 1,128, just 53 boards behind.

• Sophomore point guard Valerie Huerta averaged 18 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 60% from the field, 63% from three-point range going a perfect 5 for 5 from the free-throw line. Huerta’s week was highlighted by a 19-point, five-rebound performance in Saturday’s win where she also added three assists.

• Central Washington begins its final road trip of the regular-season looking to clinch a GNAC Championships berth as it takes on Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings took its win streak into double digits last week with a 64-61 win at Seattle Pacific on Saturday.

• After trailing by 11 points going into halftime, the Yellowjackets came back in dominant fashion, outscoring the Falcons 34-20 down the stretch, including a fourth quarter where they limited SPU to just four points.

• Junior forward Dyauni Boyce led the comeback for MSUB with 16 points on 4 of 7 from the field, 3 of 5 from three-point range and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line. Half of her points came in the critical second half of the game. Boyce also finished with three rebounds, four assists and a steal.

• Senior guard Shayla Montague backed up Boyce with 13 points and three rebounds while shooting 50% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range.

• Montana State Billings will hit the road for the final time of the regular season to face Western Washington on Thursday and Simon Fraser on Saturday. The Yellowjackets handed the Vikings their only loss of the conference season in their last meeting on Jan. 21.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene jumped up two spots in the GNAC standings with a 78-75 overtime win against Alaska Anchorage on Thursday and a 79-72 win over Alaska on Saturday.

• Junior forward Clare Eubanks led the charge back into the top-six for the Nighthawks averaging 23 points and six rebounds per game while going 11 for 22 from the field, 1 for 1 from long range and 23 for 27 from the free-throw line. Eubanks cracked the 20-point mark in both wins, finishing Thursday with 25 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. She then led all scorers with 21 points, four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal on Saturday.

• Freshman forward Danika Starr averaged 15.5 points and nine rebounds per game. Starr finished both games in double-digit scoring with her high point coming in Thursday’s win with 17 points, nine rebounds, an assist and a steal.

• Northwest Nazarene hosts CWU for its only game of the week on Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s split its penultimate week at home with a 77-57 win over Simon Fraser on Thursday and a 67-62 loss to Western Washington on Saturday.

• Defense continues to be a strength for the Saints who rank second in the GNAC with a .266 three-point percentage defense. That strength showed as they held No. 4 GNAC ranked three-point percentage SFU to 24.2% and No. 1 Western Washington to 25% from long range.

• Sophomore forward Rian Clear led the Saints for the week, averaging 19 points per game while shooting 52% from the field, 37% from three-point range and 90% from the free-throw line. Clear’s high point of the week came on Saturday where she posted 21 points to go with two rebounds, two steals and an assist.

• Sophomore forward Chenoa Louie averaged a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds per game for the week while shooting 56% from the field. She led all scorers against Simon Fraser with 24 points to go with 11 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Louie followed that up with a relatively quiet Saturday where she notched six points, nine rebounds, two steals and a block.

• Saint Martin’s hits the road for the final time of the regular-season to face Alaska Anchorage on Thursday and Alaska on Saturday.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific narrowly dropped its only game of the week, 64-61, on Saturday to Montana State Billings.

• The Falcons held an 11-point advantage over the Yellowjackets going into halftime but couldn’t keep pace with MSUB down the stretch, only connecting for four points in the final quarter.

• Senior guard/forward Ashley Alter led all scorers with a top-heavy performance for the Falcons with 23 points on 9 of 14 from the field, 3 of 6 from three-point range and 2 of 2 from the free throw line. Alter also added eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.

• Sophomore guard Hunter Beirne joined Alter in the double digit scoring with 11 points on 5 of 9 from the field and 1 of 4 from deep. She finished with five rebounds, four assists and a block.

• Seattle Pacific takes it final road trip of the regular season this week, facing Simon Fraser on Thursday and Western Washington on Saturday.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser split its games on the road, falling 77-57 to at Saint Martin’s on Thursday before bouncing back with a 75-69 win over Western Oregon on Saturday.

• Junior guard/forward Jessica Wisotzki led the offense for the Red Leafs, averaging 25.5 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per contest. Wisotzki opened the week with 18 points, nine rebounds and a steal on Thursday and finished Saturday’s win by leading all scorers with 33 points, four rebounds and a block. Wisotzki leads the GNAC and ranks ninth in Division II in scoring with 21.7 points per game.

•  Sophomore forward Gemma Cutler continues to be a strong defensive presence for SFU, adding two blocks to her GNAC-leading 51 total which also ranks ninth in Division II. She also leads the conference  and ranks second in the division with 2.68 blocks per game.

• Simon Fraser will play its final regular-season home games of the season this week as it hosts Seattle Pacific on Thursday and Montana State Billings on Saturday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon dropped both of its games at home last week, falling 87-58 to No. 8 Western Washington on Thursday and 75-69 to Simon Fraser on Saturday.

• Junior guard Cali McClave led the Wolves for the week, earning 17.5 points per game while pulling in 4.5 rebounds per contest. McClave opened her week with 17 points, two rebounds, three steals and two assists against the Vikings. She followed that up with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks against the Red Leafs.

• Freshman forward Kiylynn Dawkins backed up McClave for the week, averaging 14 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 50% from the field and 66% from the free-throw line. Dawkins’ highlight of the week came on Saturday against SFU where she knocked down 15 points on 6 of 14 from the field and 3 for 4 from the free-throw line. She also finished with seven rebounds.

• Western Oregon will take its final regular-season road trip of the season when it travels north this week to face Alaska on Thursday and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington kept rolling with another pair of wins last week, taking an 87-58 win at Western Oregon on Thursday and a 67-62 victory over Saint Martin’s on Saturday.

• Junior forward Brooke Walling paced the Vikings for another week, averaging 16 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting 70% from the field and 58% from the free-throw line. Walling notched her 10th double-double of the season by leading WWU with 17 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday’s win over Saint Martin’s. She also finished with three blocks, an assist and a steal.

• Senior forward Katrina Gimmaka led all scorers in Thursday’s win with 24 points on 11 of 15 from the field and 2 for 3 from the free-throw line. She also added six rebounds, two assists and a block.

• The Vikings begin their final homestand of the regular season by facing Montana State Billings on Thursday and will aim to avenge their only loss of the GNAC season before hosting Seattle Pacific on Saturday.