Wednesday, February 22, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – The conference was in full swing last week as teams battled through the penultimate week of the regular season in search of an all-important berth to the GNAC Championships.

Alaska Anchorage led the charge as the only women’s basketball team last week to come up with a pair of wins, defeating Saint Martin’s 76-73 on Thursday and Western Oregon 80-58 on Saturday. Junior guard Vishe’ Rabb took full advantage of the Seawolves’ final regular season homestand, averaging 27 points, 7.5 rebounds and four assists per game to earn her second GNAC Player of the Week award of the season.

Elsewhere in the conference, both of the leading win streaks were snapped as Montana State Billings took a hard-fought 66-64 overtime victory over Western Washington to sweep the season series and end the Vikings six-game win streak on Thursday. The Yellowjackets’ 11-game win streak ended with a 67-61 loss to Simon Fraser on Saturday.

With three spots remaining in the GNAC Championships, the battle for the postseason continues on into the final week of the regular season. Alaska Anchorage and Seattle Pacific are tied for third in the standings with 8-8 conference records. The Red Leafs are right behind with an 8-9 record after their win over MSUB on Saturday. On the outside looking in, Northwest Nazarene (7-9), Western Oregon (5-11) and Saint Martin’s (5-11) all still have a chance to stake their claim to a berth.

LOCKED IN: Western Washington, Montana State Billings and Central Washington have all secured their place in the GNAC Championships that take place in Bellingham from March 2-4. The Vikings and Yellowjackets gave fans a taste of what could be to come on Thursday in Carver Gym with an overtime battle that saw MSUB come out on top on a three-point buzzer-beater with less than a half second remaining.

It was sophomore guard Aspen Giese who delivered the overtime dagger for the Yellowjackets on a career night. Giese led all scorers with 25 points while shooting 90.9% from the field, 66.7% from long range and 75% from the free-throw line. She also finished with five rebounds, three steals and an assist in the win.  

Western Washington rebounded with a win on Saturday, maintaining the Vikings’ run of not allowing consecutive losses this season, while Montana State Billings dropped its Saturday game against Simon Fraser.

Montana State Billings will host the Alaska schools this week while Western Washington hosts Simon Fraser for its only game of the week on Saturday.

KEY CONSISTENCY: Alaska Anchorage was the only team to take a pair of wins last week, defeating Saint Martin’s 76-63 on Thursday and Western Oregon 80-58 on Saturday in the final regular-season homestand for the Seawolves. The wins came at a critical time for UAA, lifting the Seawolves back into fourth place in the GNAC standings heading into the final week of the regular season.

Junior guard Vishe’ Rabb led UAA for the week, earning GNAC Player of the Week honors after averaging 27 points, 7.5 rebounds and four assists per game. Rabb’s week was highlighted by a 29-point performance in Saturday’s win over the Wolves where she shot 64.3% from the field, 66.7% from three-point range and 90% from the free throw line. She also finished Saturday with five rebounds and four assists.

The Seawolves have been one of the most consistent teams in Division II when it comes to ball management, leading the GNAC and ranking sixth in the division with an 8.20 turnover margin and seventh in Division II with a 1.30 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Alaska Anchorage will face Seattle Pacific on Thursday and No. 22 Montana State Billings on Saturday for its final games of the regular season.

RECORD WATCH: Central Washington senior center Samantha Bowman still has more to prove in the final games of the regular season. She sits second all-time in the GNAC with 1,144 career rebounds, just 37 behind the all-time record of 1,181 set by UAA’s Rebecca Kielpinski in 2009.

Central Washington cruised to an 85-60 win over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday in the two teams’ only game of the week. Central Washington freshman guard  Asher Cai led all scorers with 20 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and a steal on a night where she, Bowman and Valerie Huerta combined for 58 points. Bowman notched her GNAC-leading 21st double-double of the season to rank second in Division II.

FALCONS IN THE FIGHT: Seattle Pacific is in fifth place in the GNAC standings heading into the final week of the season after splitting last week with a 59-48 win over Simon Fraser on Thursday and a 69-52 loss to Western Washington on Saturday on the road. Senior guard/forward Ashely Alter led the charge for the Falcons last week, averaging 18.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. In Thursday’s win, Alter notched a double-double of 26 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 63.1% from the field and 40% from three-point range.

Seattle Pacific will have a chance to break clear of Alaska Anchorage in the standings on Thursday as the Falcons return home for the final homestand of the regular season. The Nanooks will be in Seattle on Saturday to close out the conference slate.

WORK TO DO: Simon Fraser sits in sixth place heading into the final week of the regular season. The Red Leafs can not afford to relax after splitting last week with a 59-48 loss to Seattle Pacific on Thursday before stunning nationally ranked Montana State Billings on Saturday with a 67-61 win. The Red Leafs’ road to the postseason could depend on a showdown just across the border as they travel to face Western Washington on Saturday.

Junior guard/forward Jessica Wisotzki will look to stay hot for SFU as she leads the GNAC and ranks seventh in Division II in scoring with 21.5 points per game. On the season, Wisotzki is shooting 44.3% from the field and 40.4% from three-point range.

NIGHTLINE: Northwest Nazarene’s postseason aspirations will come down to the wire as it travels to face Western Oregon on Thursday and Saint Martin’s on Saturday. All three teams are in with a shot to earn a GNAC Championships berth but currently find themselves out of the coveted top-six places.

The Nighthawks are led by junior forward Clare Eubanks, who ranks 12th in the GNAC with 11.9 points per game while shooting 46.2% from the field 77.1% from the free-throw line. Northwest Nazarene leads the GNAC and ranks 15th in Division II with 15.67 free throws made per game and also leads the conference with 21 free-throw attempts per game.

Junior guard Cali McClave leads the way for Western Oregon heading into the final week of the regular season. McClave is one of the top-scoring threats in the conference, averaging 16.5 points per game to rank fourth in the GNAC while shooting 36.9% from the field and 27.9% from three-point range. She also averages 2.1 steals per game to lead a Wolves team that ranks third in the GNAC with nine steals per contest.

Last week, WOU split on the Alaska road trip, taking an 87-68 win over the Nanooks on Thursday before falling 80-58 to the Seawolves on Saturday. The Wolves return home this week to host Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday.

Junior guard Anjel Galbraith heads up the Saint Martin’s bid for the postseason and ranks sixth in the conference with an average of 15.3 points per game. Galbraith also leads the GNAC and ranks 11th in Division II with 5.4 assists per game. Her 129 total assists leads the conference and ranks 20th in the Division.

The Saints also split the Alaska road trip last week, falling 76-63 at Alaska Anchorage on Thursday before bouncing back with an 82-65 win over Alaska on Saturday. Saint Martin’s will host Central Washington on Thursday ahead of its regular-season finale on Saturday against Northwest Nazarene.

Alaska is officially out of the postseason picture but has an outside chance to play spoiler to Seattle Pacific on Saturday depending on results from Thursday. Junior guard Emma McKenney leads the Nanooks in scoring with 13.2 points per game to rank 10th in the GNAC. McKenny also ranks fourth in the conference with a .434 three-point percentage.