By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – An eventful opening weekend of women’s basketball conference play will be followed by a lighter week of action with just four Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams scheduled for games this week.
 
Montana State Billings (9-1, 2-0 GNAC) held its spot at No. 3 in the latest WBCA national poll and will host Rocky Mountain College (6-3) on Wednesday night (7 p.m. MT) and University of Montana Western (2-4) on Friday night (6 p.m. MT).
 

This Week's GNAC Women's Basketball Schedule
GNAC Team	Opponent(s)	Location
#3 Montana State Billings	Rocky Mountain College; Montana Western	Billings, MT
Saint Martin's	Washington State	Pullman, WA
Seattle Pacific	Stanislaus State	Seattle, WA
Western Oregon	Pacific	Monmouth, OR

 

This Week's Storylines

‘JACKETS CLAIM TITLE GAME REMATCH, START 2-0: A pair of narrow road victories last week spurred the reigning GNAC champion Yellowjackets to a 2-0 start to their conference schedule, as the Yellowjackets outlasted Western Washington 64-58 last Thursday before edging past Simon Fraser 69-66 last Saturday. It was the first time since 2013-14 that MSUB defeated those two perennially strong opponents on the same road trip, and the ‘Jackets earned GNAC Team of the Week recognition.
 
Senior Dyauni Boyce, the second-leading active career scorer, surpassed 1,200-career points as she upped her team-leading scoring average to 13.8 points per game. Kortney Nelson is up to 924 career points and Aspen Giese upped her count to 860 as that duo is also among the top-10 active conference players in career scoring.
 
Read More: Yellowjackets are GNAC Team of the Week
   

GNAC Active Leaders – Career Points (as of Dec. 11)
Rank	Player	Points	School	Career
1	Sunny Huerta	1,500	Central Washington	2021-25
2	Dyauni Boyce	1,201	Montana State Billings	2020-25
3	Asher Cai	1,146	Central Washington	2022-25
4	Sophia Wisotzki	1,125	Simon Fraser	2021-25
5	Kortney Nelson	924	Montana State Billings	2020-25
6	Aspen Giese	860	Montana State Billings	2021-25
7	Jazzpher Evans	838	Alaska Anchorage	2021-25
8	Destiny Reimers	794	Alaska Fairbanks	2021-25
9	Schuyler Berry	648	Seattle Pacific	2021-25
10	Kayla Johnson	637	Alaska Fairbanks	2022-25

 

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SEAWOLVES BREAK VICTORY MARGIN RECORD: Alaska Anchorage (10-1, 2-0) toppled Western Oregon in record-breaking fashion, posting the largest margin of victory in a conference game with a 108-41 triumph last Saturday. The 67-point margin surpassed the GNAC record of 64 points, set by Western Oregon in a 113-51 win over Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 6, 2001 – the first season of conference play. UAA also rolled past Saint Martin’s 78-58 to open its conference slate with a pair of big wins. Boasting some of the top statistics in Division II basketball through the first 11 games of the season, UAA leads the NCAA in scoring margin (47.6), assist-turnover ratio (1.59) and turnover margin (18.0), while ranking second in scoring offense (90.0), scoring defense (42.4), assists per game (20.4), steals per game (20.7) and rebound margin (18.9), third in turnovers forced (30.8), sixth in bench points (36.7), 10th in rebounds per game (45.3) and 3-pointers per game (9.6), and 11th in field-goal percentage defense (33.5) and fewest turnovers per game (12.8).
 
Emilia Long picked up her second GNAC Player of the Week award of the season and leads Division II basketball with 57 total steals and 5.18 steals per game. Elaina Mack leads Division II with 40 made 3-pointers, with her figure of 3.64 made threes per game ranking sixth in the country. Jazzpher Evans is second on the team with 13.1 points per game and ranks seventh among active GNAC players with 838 career points. The UAA women are next in action on Dec. 19-20 in a trip to the Big Island to face Hawaii Pacific and Daemen.
 
Read More: UAA claims GNAC record in blowout (UAA Recap)
 

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WILDCATS WIN OPENER: Central Washington (7-0, 1-0) kept its 2024-25 record spotless with a 74-60 win over Northwest Nazarene in its lone game last week. The Wildcats, who were the first team out of the WBCA top-25 in the latest rankings, face a big test their next time out as they take on No. 9 and undefeated Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-0) on Dec. 18 on the road.
 
Sunny Huerta, the active GNAC scoring leader, upped her career point total to 1,500 last week ranking her 16th in GNAC history. Huerta’s 18.9 points per game rank her second in the conference in scoring, while teammate Asher Cai is fourth at 17.3 points per game. Cai is third on the GNAC active scoring leaders list, with 1,146 points in her three seasons at CWU. Capri Sims leads the team and ranks second in the conference with 9.0 rebounds per game.
 
Read More: Second-half surge propels CWU (CWU Recap)
   

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TRAVIS LEADS SAINTS TO HISTORIC WIN: Saint Martin’s freshman Jada Travis continued the explosive start to her collegiate career, with a signature performance in the Saints’ 105-71 win at Alaska Fairbanks last Saturday. Travis made 8 of 12 field goals on her way to a season-high 26 points, while adding a season-high nine assists, seven steals and seven rebounds. Travis’s big effort helped SMU to its highest scoring total since the GNAC was founded in 2001, and just the fourth time that the team broke the century mark in a game. The team’s most recent triple-digit game was a 101-60 triumph over Evergreen State College on Dec. 10, 2022 and the others were a 107-103 loss to Dixie State on Nov. 17, 2018 and a 102-62 win over Cascade on Dec. 28, 2001 – the first year of the GNAC. It was also SMU’s most-ever points in a conference game, topping a 97-85 win over the Nanooks on Jan. 21, 2006. The Saints will get a taste of top-notch competition this week, facing Washington State (4-5) on Sunday at noon (PT) in Pullman, Wash.
   

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SCORING WIZ: Simon Fraser’s Sophia Wisotzki has filled up the stat sheet through her first 11 games of the year, leading the conference and ranking second in Division II basketball with 24.6 points per game. The SFU senior ranks fourth among the conference’s active career scoring leaders with 1,125 points in her four seasons with the Red Leafs. SFU split its opening conference games of the season, beating Seattle Pacific 87-73 before the narrow 69-66 loss to the Yellowjackets. The Red Leafs are off until the resumption of GNAC games on Jan. 2, 2025.
 

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ANOTHER 30-PIECE FOR PEDROJETTI: Western Oregon’s Bella Pedrojetti poured in 36 points last Thursday, helping the Wolves (3-5, 1-1) beat Alaska Fairbanks 82-73 for their first conference win of the season. It was the senior’s highest point total of the season and second time reaching 30, after she scored 34 in the opener against Multnomah on Nov. 10. Pedrojetti’s scoring average of 17.6 points per game ranks her third in the conference and she owns the two highest single-game point totals by a GNAC player thus far. Pedrojetti’s seven made threes against the Nanooks also tied her for the most by a GNAC player this fall. After scoring 639 points in two seasons at Bushnell University (NAIA), Pedrojetti’s collegiate career total surpassed the 1,000 mark as she has scored 369 in her two seasons at WOU (1,008 total). The Wolves face NCAA Division III Pacific (2-4) on Thursday (5:30 p.m. PT) in their lone game this week.
 
Read More: Pedrojetti puts up 36 in win over Alaska (WOU Recap)
 

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VIKS CONTINUE STRONG PLAY: Western Washington (5-4, 1-1) has won four of its last five games with the only defeat in that span being to the third-ranked Yellowjackets last week. The Vikings responded to the loss with a convincing 83-68 victory over Seattle Pacific last time out on Saturday. Next up for WWU is a trip to Hawaii for a pair of games on Dec. 20-21 before the holiday break. Alyson Deaver leads the squad with 14.7 points per game and ranks second on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game. Olivia Wikstrom is coming off a season-high 23 points in the win over the Falcons, upping her scoring average to 14.2 points per game to ranks second on the team. The senior’s 6.4 rebounds per game are the most for the Vikings.
 
Read More: Vikings’ starting 5 paves way in win over SPU (WWU Recap)
 

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CLARK, GEBERS SHINE FOR NNU: Sophomore Kendall Clark has continued her strong start to the season, leading Northwest Nazarene with 15.8 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game. The reigning GNAC Freshman of the Year ranks third in the conference with a field-goal percentage of 59.4 and recorded her first double-double of the year with 19 points and a dozen rebounds in last week’s loss to Central Washington. Madeline Gebers leads the Nighthawks with 2.7 assists per game, while ranking second on the team with 11.2 points and 3.8 rebounds. The Nighthawks (5-4, 0-1) head to Salt Lake City, Utah next week to square off against MSU Denver (Dec. 20) and Westminster (Dec. 21) in their final non-conference games of the year.
 
Read More: Nighthawks battle hard against undefeated CWU (NNU Recap)
 

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REIMERS, JOHNSON LEAD NANOOKS: The Alaska Nanooks (5-4, 0-2) are coming off a pair of losses at home last week to open conference play. Alaska is next in action on Dec. 17 at Cal State East Bay and Dec. 19 at San Francisco State to wrap up its non-conference schedule for the season. Destiny Reimers, who is eighth on the GNAC active career scorers list with 794 points, leads the team with 14.0 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game this season. Kayla Johnson is the team’s other double-figure scorer at 11.9 points per game, and her 637 career points are 10th most among active GNAC players.
 
Read More: Nanooks fall to Saint Martin’s (UAF Recap)
 

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FALCONS TAKE ON WARRIORS: Seattle Pacific (2-9, 0-2) gets set to host Stanislaus State (2-6) on Saturday at 2 p.m. (PT) in Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons lost their first two conference games of the year, falling 87-73 to Simon Fraser and 83-68 to Western Washington on the road last week. Layne Kearns leads the team with 10.6 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game. Hunter Beirne is the other Falcon to have started all 11 contests this season, ranking second on the team with 8.7 points per game.
 
Read More: SPU comes up short at Western (SPU Recap)
   

Player To Watch

Chenoa Louie – Montana State Billings
 
A welcome addition to the Yellowjacket lineup this fall has been Louie, a junior forward. After taking a year off from basketball in 2023-24, Louie has had an immediate impact for the reigning conference champions. Although it was virtually impossible to replace the presence of Kola Bad Bear, last year’s GNAC Player of the Year and an All-American, Louie’s 5-foot-11 frame has helped add depth to MSUB’s roster. She has seen action in all 10 games this season, averaging 6.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 14.0 minutes off the bench. Louie had a season-high 12 points on Nov. 16 in a win over Colorado Mines, following with 10 points and a season-best seven rebounds in a win over Minot State on Nov. 23. An efficient scorer in the paint, Louie is shooting 50.9% to rank eighth in the GNAC. There were hints of her abilities in her very first game at MSUB, when she posted 11 points, five rebounds four blocks, two steals and an assist in 17 minutes against Texas A&M International on Nov. 1. Look for Louie to show up big in the Yellowjackets’ home games this week as they go for the season sweep against rival Rocky Mountain College and face Montana Western.
 

GNAC In The National & Regional Rankings

National top-25 rankings are released weekly by both the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (coach poll) and the D2 College Sports Communicators (media poll). The D2CSC also releases weekly regional top-10 rankings. Additional ranking information, including RPI projections, can be found in real time via Inkblot Sports online here. The official NCAA regional rankings, which will eventually determine the eight-team field for the 2025 NCAA West Region Championships, will be released towards the end of the season beginning in February, 2025.
 

WBCA National Top-25 Poll
Poll	Team 1	Team 2	Team 3
Preseason (10/29)	6. MSUB	RV WWU
Week 1 (11/19)	5. MSUB	RV CWU
Week 2 (11/26)	3. MSUB	RV CWU
Week 3 (12/3)	3. MSUB	RV CWU
Week 4 (12/10)	3. MSUB	RV CWU	RV UAA

 

D2CSC National Top-25 Poll
Poll	Team 1	Team 2
Preseason (11/5)	10. WWU	20. MSUB
Week 1 (11/12)	19. MSUB
Week 2 (11/19)	15. MSUB
Week 3 (11/26)	T10. MSUB
Week 4 (12/3)	16. MSUB
Week 5 (12/10)	12. MSUB

 

D2CSC West Region Rankings
Poll	Team 1	Team 2	Team 3	Team 4	Team 5
Preseason (11/4)	1. WWU	3. MSUB	7. UAA	9. CWU
Week 1 (11/11)	2. MSUB	6. UAA	T7. WWU	T9. CWU	RV SFU
Week 2 (11/18)	2. MSUB	6. CWU	8. UAA	9. SFU	T10. WWU
Week 3 (11/25)	1. MSUB	6. UAA	7. CWU	8. SFU	RV WWU
Week 4 (12/2)	2. MSUB	6. UAA	7. CWU	RV SFU	RV SMU
Week 5 (12/9)	2. MSUB	6. UAA	7. CWU	10. SFU	RV WWU

 

GNAC Players of the Week

 

Date	Player of the Week	School
11/4	Emilia Long	Alaska Anchorage
11/11	Sunny Huerta	Central Washington
11/18	Aspen Giese	Montana State Billings
11/25	Jada Travis	Saint Martin's
12/2	Alyson Deaver	Western Washington
12/9	Emilia Long	Alaska Anchorage

Dec. 9 GNAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week
Emilia Long – University of Alaska Anchorage
Second-career player of the week, second this season.
 
Long was stellar in leading the Seawolves to a pair of wins to open their GNAC schedule, filling up the stat sheet in both games last week. The senior from Port Angeles, Wash., kicked things off by scoring 15 points while adding four steals, three assists and three rebounds in UAA’s 78-58 win over Saint Martin’s. She followed that with perhaps the top single-game statistical performance by a GNAC player this season, scoring a personal collegiate best 26 points and adding nine steals, eight assists, three rebounds and a block while committing zero turnovers in a record-setting 108-41 win over Western Oregon. Long approached triple-double territory in just 24 minutes on the floor against the Wolves, making a season-high 10 field goals. Overall on the week Long shot 53.8% (14-for-26) and made all 11 of her free-throw attempts, while averaging 6.5 steals, 5.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. Long’s 5.2 steals per game this season and 57 total steals are both the most in Division II basketball entering this week. She ranks 11th in the GNAC with 13.9 points per game and second with 4.6 assists per game.
 
UAA Head Coach Ryan McCarthy: “Millie has continued to get better and better the more she learns our system. She is such a dynamic player on both ends of the floor, and she really showed that this past week. She can change a game with her defensive ability and with our depth at the guard position she is able to play a majority of her minutes fresh and aggressive.”
 
Also Nominated: Shelby Blodgett, Central Washington; Dyauni Boyce, Montana State Billings; Kendall Clark, Northwest Nazarene; Jada Travis, Saint Martin’s; Makenna Gardner, Simon Fraser; Bella Pedrojetti, Western Oregon; Olivia Wikstrom, Western Washington.

 

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2024-25 GNAC Women's Basketball Championships

The 2025 GNAC Men’s and Women's Basketball Championships will be held March 6-8 at Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martin's University in Lacey, Wash. The top six teams in the GNAC standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the GNAC Championships (tiebreakers will be applied as necessary). The top two seeds earn byes to the semifinal round. The quarterfinal round will match the Nos. 3 and 6 seeds in one game and the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds in the other game. Quarterfinal winners will advance to Friday's semifinals. Semifinal winners will meet on Saturday for the championship. The winners of the GNAC Championships will automatically qualify for their respective NCAA Division II Championships events.
 

2024-25 All-Tournament Selections

D2CCA Tipoff Classic at the Trailhead
Nov. 1-3 at Billings, Mont. (Montana State Billings, Host)
MSU Billings: Dyauni Boyce; Aspen Giese
 
D2CCA Canadian Tipoff Classic
Nov. 1-3 at Langley, B.C. (Simon Fraser, Host)
Simon Fraser: Sophia Wisotzki
Seattle Pacific: Layne Kearns

Mt. McKinley Banks North Star Invitational
Nov. 15-16 at Fairbanks, Alaska (Alaska Fairbanks, Host
Alaska Fairbanks: Kayla Johnson; Taylor Pilot
Western Oregon: Natalie Brown

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2024-25 GNAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points	2023-24 Record	GNAC Record (Finish)	2024-25 Roster	2024-25 Schedule
1	Western Washington (4)	91	24-7	14-4 (2nd)	Roster	Schedule
2	Montana State Billings (5)	90	28-7	16-2 (1st)	Roster	Schedule
3	Alaska Anchorage (1)	79	19-9	13-5 (3rd)	Roster	Schedule
4	Central Washington	78	19-12	10-8 (T4th)	Roster	Schedule
5	Simon Fraser	59	17-14	10-8 (T4th)	Roster	Schedule
6	Northwest Nazarene	47	9-15	7-11 (7th)	Roster	Schedule
7	Saint Martin's	37	8-17	6-12 (8th)	Roster	Schedule
8	Seattle Pacific	34	11-18	8-10 (6th)	Roster	Schedule
9	Alaska Fairbanks	20	4-23	3-15 (T9th)	Roster	Schedule
10	Western Oregon	15	10-13	3-15 (T9th)	Roster	Schedule
Points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis

 

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2024-25 GNAC Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Preseason Player of the Year: Sunny Huerta, Central Washington University
Name	School	Position	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Tori Hollingshead	Alaska Anchorage	Forward/Center	6-3	Senior	Orem, Utah	Umpqua CC
Sunny Huerta	Central Washington	Guard	5-4	Senior	Whittier, Calif.	Saint Paul
Asher Cai	Central Washington	Guard	5-9	Junior	Colfax, Wash.	Colfax
Capri Sims	Central Washington	Forward	6-0	Sophomore	Post Falls, Idaho	Post Falls
Dyauni Boyce	Montana State Billings	Forward	5-11	Senior	Winifred, Mont.	Winifred
Aspen Giese	Montana State Billings	Guard	5-8	Senior	Fort Benton, Mont.	Fort Benton
Kortney Nelson	Montana State Billings	Guard	5-8	Senior	Scobey, Mont.	Scobey
Kendall Clark	Northwest Nazarene	Guard/Forward	5-10	Sophomore	Melba, Idaho	Melba
Madeline Gebers	Northwest Nazarene	Guard/Forward	6-0	Senior	Kennewick, Wash.	Spokane Falls CC
Sarah Lamet	Saint Martin's	Forward	6-4	Junior	Tigard, Ore.	Tigard
Hunter Beirne	Seattle Pacific	Guard	5-7	Senior	Mukilteo, Wash.	Kamiak
Schuyler Berry	Seattle Pacific	Center	6-3	Senior	Portland, Ore.	Grant
Sophia Wisotzki	Simon Fraser	Guard	5-10	Senior	Langley, B.C.	Walnut Grove Secondary
Mason Oberg	Western Washington	Guard	5-5	Junior	Vancouver, Wash.	Union
Olivia Wikstrom	Western Washington	Guard	6-1	Senior	Bainbridge Island, Wash.	Bainbridge