March 6, 2007

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University guard Mollie Stelmack was a unanimous first-team selection on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball All-Star Team announced today.

Forward Liz McCarrell was a second-team pick, and forward Krystal Robinson received honorable mention.

Stelmack, a senior from New Westminster, B.C., leads the Vikings in points (15.9 avg.), assists (3.4) and 3-point shooting (41.3 percent, 64-of-155). She became the first backcourt player since 1984 to pace the team in scoring.

Stelmack, who has started all 27 games for Western, ranks second among league leaders in 3-point makes (2.4), third in scoring, fourth in 3-point percentage and assists, seventh in steals (1.7) and eighth in field goal percentage (46.6).

A two-year letter winner at Western, Stelmack has scored 1,301 career points, 567 at Franklin Pierce College NH.

McCarrell, a junior from Ferndale, is averaging 11.2 points on team-best 50.0 percent (114-of-228) field goal shooting, which ranks sixth in the GNAC.

Robinson, a junior from Kent (Kentridge High graduate), ranks fourth nationally and leads the GNAC in blocked shots with 79 (2.9 avg.). She has had at least one block in every game this season and her career total of 180 ranks second among WWU career leaders.

Robinson is averaging 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds. She ranks seventh among league leaders in field goal shooting at 49.4 percent (116-of-235) and eighth in free throw accuracy at 78.1 percent (50-of-64).

Western has an 18-9 record and tied for third in the GNAC at 10-6. The Vikings meet host and No.1 seed UC San Diego in the opening round of the NCAA Division II West Regional on Friday (7:30 p.m.).

GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Women's Basketball: Kielpinski, Moser Win Top Player, Coach Awards

SPOKANE, Wash. - Alaska Anchorage center Rebecca Kielpinski and first-year UAA head coach Tim Moser have been voted the 2006-07 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player-of-the-Year and Coach-of-the-Year, respectively.

Moser, a 1998 grad of Colorado State - Pueblo, led the Seawolves to one of the most dramatic turnarounds of any team in NCAA Division II this winter. UAA finished the regular-season with a 22-5 record, a nine-game improvement over a year ago when the Seawolves were 13-14 and finished seventh in the GNAC with a 6-12 record.

Alaska Anchorage ended up second in the conference this season with an 11-5 record, finishing just one game behind champion Seattle Pacific. The Seawolves (15-0) were the only team in the conference to finish unbeaten at home. UAA will join SPU and Western Washington in the NCAA West Regionals that begin Friday at San Diego, Calif.

Kielpinski, a second team all-conference selection last year as a freshman, led the GNAC in rebounding (11.0) and finished fourth in the conference in scoring, averaging 14.8 per game.

In addition to Kielpinski and Moser, Alaska Anchorage forward Jayci Stone and Seattle University guard Cassidy Murillo also won special awards. Stone, a transfer from New Mexico State, was selected the GNAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, while Murillo was voted the GNAC Freshman-of-the-Year.

Stone averaged 11.0 points per game and led the conference in three-pointers, making 2.56 per game. Murillo averaged 9.2 points per game for the Redhawks and ranked first in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.02), second in three-point percentage (43.5) and fifth in assists (3.37).

In addition to winning GNAC Player-of-the-Year honors, Kielpinski headed up the first team all-conference team. Joining her on the first team are Seattle Pacific center Kelsey Hill, guards Mollie Stelmack of Western Washington and Leada Berkey of Western Oregon and forward Danielle Dwello of Northwest Nazarene.

Kielpinski, Hill and Stelmack were unanimous selections. Hill ranked 10th in scoring (11.9) and third in rebounding (8.4) in leading SPU to its fourth conference title in the past five years, while Stelmack ranked third in scoring (15.9) and was fourth in the conference in three-point percentage (41.3).

Berkey was the conference scoring leader (21.1) and ended up second in rebounding (9.0), while Dwello, who also earned CoSIDA second team Academic All-American honors, was seventh in both scoring (12.4) and rebounding (7.2).

Seven players earned second team honors including Laura Wright of Central Washington, Stone, Kari Reabold of Alaska Fairbanks, Ashley Brown and Laina Sobczak of Seattle, Liz McCarrell of Western Washington and Jackie Hollands of Seattle Pacific. Wright was also a second team pick two years ago.

GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

First Team *Rebecca Kielpinski, Alaska Anchorage, Center, 6-2, So., Mandan, ND *Kelsey Hill, Seattle Pacific, Center, 6-2, So., Portland, OR *Mollie Stelmack, Western Washington, Guard, 5-11, Sr., New Westminster, BC Leada Berkey, Western Oregon, Guard, 5-8, Jr., Amity, OR Danielle Dwello, Northwest Nazarene, Forward, 6-0, Sr., Nampa, ID

Second Team Laura Wright, Central Washington, Post, 6-3, Sr., Longview, WA Jayci Stone, Alaska Anchorage, Forward, 5-10, Sr., Goodland, KS Kari Reabold, Alaska Fairbanks, Guard, 5-11, Jr., Fairbanks, AK Ashley Brown, Seattle U., Guard, 5-4, Sr., Beaverton, OR Laina Sobczak, Seattle, Forward, 5-11, Jr., Tacoma, WA Liz McCarrell, Western Washington, Forward, 5-11, Jr., Ferndale, WA Jackie Hollands, Seattle Pacific, Guard, 5-9, Jr., Oregon City, OR

Honorable Mention - Elyse Mengarelli, Central Washington (W, 5-9, Jr., Granger, WA); Kristin Hein, Northwest Nazarene (P, 5-11, Fr., Tualatin, OR); Rachel Strand, Seattle Pacific (F, 6-0, Sr., Shoreline, WA); Beth Christensen, SPU (G, 5-5 Jr., Enumclaw, W); Jessi Reome, Saint Martin's (G, 5-10, Jr., Nine Mile Falls, WA); Whitney Golob, Saint Martin's (F, 6-0, Sr., Olympia, WA); Krystal Robinson, Western Washington (F, 6-2, Jr., Kent, WA)

*Unanimous

Player-of-the-Year - Rebecca Kielpinski, Alaska Anchorage Newcomer-of-the-Year - Jayci Stone, Alaska Anchorage Freshman-of-the-Year - Cassidy Murillo, Seattle Coach-of-the-Year - Tim Moser, Alaska Anchorage