UAA women place 2 on preseason GNAC basketball team

A pair of UAA women's basketball players, including former walk-on Tara Thompson of Anchorage, have been named to the preseason all-conference team.

Thompson and Shelby Cloninger are among 15 players on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason team, which was announced Thursday. Both played in every game for UAA in last season's 30-2 campaign.

Cloninger, a 6-foot senior forward from Kamiah, Idaho, was one of seven unanimous selections, as was the GNAC's preseason Player of the Year, Montana State-Billings guard Alisha Breen.

Cloninger came off the bench in every game, averaging 8.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 17.5 minutes per game.

Thompson, a 5-7 junior guard from Dimond High, averaged 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals. Her 43.6 percent shooting accuracy from 3-point range was the sixth-best in Division II women's basketball.

The Seawolves begin the season next week with a Thursday game in Charlotte, North Carolina, against Johnson & Wales of the NAIA. On Nov. 5, they take on Division I powerhouse Duke in an exhibition game in Durham, North Carolina.

GNAC preseason all-conference team

Alisha Breen, Montana State-Billings; Jasmin Edwards, Central Washington; Jordan McPhee, Seattle Pacific; Courtney Hollander, Seattle Pacific; Tara Thompson, UAA; Lexi Tubbs, Northwest Nazarene; Danielle Hartzog, Concordia-Portland; Hannah Stipanovich, Western Washington; Shelby Cloninger, UAA; Taylor Baird, Central Washington; Elin Johansson, Saint Martin's; Sydney Azorr, Western Oregon; Rylee Kane, Montana State-Billings; Lexie Bland, Western Washington; Bailey Cartwright, Concordia-Portland.