Sports

UAA women haul in hoops honors

A basketful of accolades were bestowed upon the top-ranked UAA women's basketball team Tuesday as five players earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-conference recognition and head coach Ryan McCarthy was named the GNAC Coach of the Year.

Junior Megan Mullings was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year and was a first-team selection, sophomore Kiki Robertson was named Defensive Player of the year and a second-team selection and junior Jenna Buchanan, senior KeKe Wright and senior Alli Madison were named honorable mention.

Mullings, a 6-foot forward from Arizona who transferred to UAA this season from South Mountain Community College, leads the team with 13.8 points and 1.5 blocks per game. She also averages 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game and her .609 shooting percentage is tops in the GNAC and fourth in the nation.

Robertson, a 5-5 point guard from Hawaii, was a pest for the Seawolves all season. She helped the team lead the nation in steals by racking up 3.3 thefts per contest. She's also averaging 6.1 assists per game for a UAA team that's fourth in the country at 80.9 points per game.

Simon Fraser's Erin Chambers was named the GNAC Player of the Year.

The honorable mention recognition was the first for Buchanan, Wright and Madison. Buchanan is a 5-8 guard from Galena who is averaging 10.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Wright is a 6-foot forward from Las Vegas who is averaging 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. And Madison, a co-captain from Seattle, averages 10.1 points and five rebounds per game and leads the team in minutes per contest.

The Coach of the Year award is McCarthy's first in three seasons at UAA. The Anchorage native is 63-20 during his tenure at UAA and led the team to a 17-1 conference mark.

ADVERTISEMENT

McCarthy's team found out on Tuesday they'll enter the postseason as the favorites.

For the third straight week, the Seawolves were named the No. 1 team in the USA Today Division II women's college basketball poll, which was also announced Tuesday.

The Seawolves (27-1) enter the playoffs on a 15-game winning streak after dispatching MSU Billings and Seattle Pacific last week at the Alaska Airlines Center.

UAA, which received a bye in the first round of the conference tournament for winning the regular season title, will open tournament play Friday in Billings, Montana.

2014-15 Great Northwest Athletic Conference

Women's Basketball All-Conference Team

First Team: *+Erin Chambers, Simon Fraser (F, 6-1, Sr., Mission, BC);*Megan Mullings, UAA (F, 6-1, Jr., Glendale, AZ); Kayleen Goggins, MSU Billings (F, 6-1, Sr., Shepherd, MT); Suzanna Ohlsen, Seattle Pacific (G, 5-7, Sr., Monroe, WA); Aubree Callen, Seattle Pacific (G, 5-9, Sr., Jerome, ID); Jenna White, Western Washington (G, 5-5, Sr., Spokane, WA). *Unanimous +Repeater

Second Team: Dana Goularte, Western Oregon (F, 6-0, Sr., Port Orchard, WA); Kiki Robertson, UAA (G, 5-6, So., Honolulu, HI); Kayla Bernsen, Western Washington (P, 6-3, So., Moses Lake, WA); Jasmin Edwards, Central Washington (G, 5-5, Fr., Lynwood, WA); Taylor Simmons, Northwest Nazarene (G, 5-8, Jr., Middleton, ID); Taylor Peacocke, Western Washington (G, 5-9, So., Bellevue, WA).

Honorable Mention: Jenna Buchanan, UAA (G, 5-8, Jr., Galena, AK); KeKe Wright, UAA (F, 5-11, Sr., Las Vegas, NV); Alli Madison, UAA (G, 5-8, Sr., Seattle, WA); Benissa Bulaya, Alaska Fairbanks (G, 5-6, Sr., Sacramento, CA); Courtney Johnson, Central Washington (G, 6-0, Sr., Kent, WA); Jasmine Parker, Central Washington (F, 6-1, Jr., Spokane, WA); Alisha Breen, MSU Billings (F, 5-10, So., Choteau, MT); Ellie Logan, Northwest Nazarene (G, 5-9, Fr., Fossil, OR); Krista Stabler, Saint Martin's (G, 5-6, Jr., Bremerton, WA); Betsy Kingsma, Seattle Pacific (G, 5-10, Sr., Bellevue, WA); Meg Wilson, Simon Fraser (F, 6-1, Jr., London, ON); Katie Lowen, Simon Fraser (G, 5-5, Sr., Lethbridge, AB); Katie Colard, Western Washington (G, 5-9, Sr., Elma, WA).

Player of the Year – Erin Chambers, Simon Fraser

Defensive Player of the Year – Kiki Robertson, UAA

Newcomer of the Year – Megan Mullings, UAA

Freshman of the Year – Jasmine Edwards, Central Washington

Coach of the Year – Ryan McCarthy, UAA

ADVERTISEMENT