FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team heads to Simon Fraser and Western Washington this week as the 'Nooks near the midway point of GNAC play.
Last Time Out
The Nanooks women's basketball team is coming off of a tough four-game home stand. In their four games at home; they lost to Northwest Nazarene after holding a six point lead at the half, fell to Central Washington by three, lost to #4 Alaska Anchorage and lost to Montana State Billings on a last second three-pointer.
Category Leaders
Jocelyn Gandara continues to lead the pack in scoring as she now averages 18.4 points per game through 17 games. The junior guard from El Paso, Texas also leads the GNAC in points scored with 313, the only player eclipsing the 300-point marker through the season this far. Gandara also finds herself in the top 10 in the conference in rebounding. Currently in eighth place, Gandara manages to grab 6.6 rebounds per game, just 0.4 more than teammate
Kylie Wallace who grabs 6.2 per game.
Only a Freshman
Sam Tolliver continues to run the point for the Nanooks. She may be a true-freshman, but the Seattle-native still finds herself atop the scoring column among conference rookies. With 14.9 points per game, Tolliver finds herself fourth in the league in scoring as a whole and 2.7 points per game higher than the next freshman, Tierney DeDonatis from Saint Martin's. Tolliver also finds herself second in the league in three point shots made with 40, giving her an average of 2.5 per game.
Scouting the Opponent
Simon Fraser Clan
The Simon Fraser Clan find themselves in third place of the GNAC standings with an 11-7 record and 6-2 GNAC record. They are tied with Northwest Nazarene, however, NNU holds the tiebreaker over the Clan. SFU is led by Jessica Jones on offense, as Jones is averaging 17.7 points per game while shooting 41.9% from the field. Jones is also tied for third on the team in total steals with 22, trailing Tayler Draynan and Ozioma Nwabuko who have collected 25 and 26 each.
The Clan are coming off of a pair of close games. In the first of the two, the Clan dropped their second GNAC game to NNU, losing 84-85 in Nampa, Idaho. After the tough loss, SFU grabbed a six-point win over Central Washington in Ellensburg, Wash.
Western Washington Vikings
The Vikings find themselves chasing the Clan by one game with a 5-3 GNAC record. WWU is on a one game winning streak after defeating the Nighthawks of Northwest Nazarene 94-83. Prior to the victory, the Vikings fell to Central Washington 62-72 in Ellensburg, Wash.
WWU is led on offense by Anna Schwecke with 14.3 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. Schwecke has proven to be an all-around star for the Vikings. Just behind Schwecke is Emma Duff who is putting up 10.4 points per game with 6.2 rebounds per game. On the defensive side of the ball, Avery Dykstra leads the Vikings with 23 steals on the season. She also adds seven blocks to her name.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball page on Facebook.
