George Fox University junior guard Keisha Gordon garnered a second consecutive First Team selection for Northwest Conference women’s basketball.
The Heritage High School graduate averages 15.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.5 steals a game for the Bruins (22-5), who shared the NWC regular season championship with Lewis & Clark, and defeated the Pioneers 76-68 in overtime in the conference tournament championship game Saturday in Portland to claim the NWC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Gordon is shooting 45.8 percent (136 of 297) from the floor, including 29.3 percent from three-point range (34 of 116), and 76.9 percent (90 of 117) from the free throw line.
She leads the conference in turnover-to-assists ratio (1.42) and ranks third in assists, sixth in scoring and rebounding, seventh in free throw percentage, 10th in field goal shooting, and 12th in three-pointers a game at 1.31.
Gordon has hit double figures in points 22 times and in rebounds five times, with five double-doubles. She scored a season-high 27 points and tied her career high with seven steals in a win at Pacific Lutheran, and had highs of 11 rebounds and six assists in a game three times each.
She was named the NWC Student-Athlete of the Week once, received honorable mention three times, and was the Bruin Athletic Association Women’s Athlete of the Week three times.
Gordon ranks third all-time at George Fox in free throw percentage at .799 (267 of 334), fourth in steals (199), seventh in points (1,221) and 10th in assists (225). George Fox will face Occidental (19-8) on Friday in Orange, Calif., to start the NCAA Division III national tournament.
WWU center Hefflin first team All-GNAC
Western Washington University senior center Lauren Hefflin was named First Team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference for women’s basketball.
The Ridgefield High School graduate averaged 12.5 points a game during the regular season for the Vikings. She led the team in field-goal shooting (55.2 percent, 133 of 241), rebounds (7.0), blocked shots (1.5, 38) and steals (1.9, 50).
Hefflin has scored in double figures 18 times, with six double-doubles in points and rebounds. She is ranked 14th in NCAA Division II in in field-goal percentage, and among the GNAC top 10 in six categories: field goal shooting (second), blocks (third), rebounds (fifth), steals (sixth), scoring (eighth) and offensive rebounds (ninth).
The Vikings (26-2), ranked No. 11 in Division II and No. 1 in the NCAA-II West Region, routed Montana State-Billings 76-49 on Wednesday in the GNAC tournament semifinals.WWU defeated Simon Fraser 73-60 on Monday. Hefflin scored 18 points Monday, and had 12 points and 14 rebounds Wednesday. The Vikings will play at home in the championship game Saturday against Alaska-Anchorage.
Lashua tops GNAC academic honors
Saint Martin’s University junior junior forward Emily Lashua was named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball All-Academic teams.
It is the second GNAC academic honor for Lashua, a Prairie High School graduate and education major.
Lashua’s cumulative grade point average of 3.97 is the highest among women’s basketball players in the conference in the U.S. grading system of a 4-point scale. Canadian universities award 4.33 grade points for an A-plus, and Simon Fraser’s Anna Carolsfeld has 4.11 GPA.
Local trio named All-CCC basketball
Corban University junior forward Erik Cronrath and Concordia University freshman forward Adam Herman were named to the 12-player All-Cascade Collegiate Conference men’s basketball team.
Jessalyn Jackson of Northwest University was named to the All-CCC women’s basketball team.
Cronrath, a Battle Ground High School graduate, averaged 15.4 poinst a game and led the Warriors in field goal percentage (0.598), free throws made (167), free throws attempted (222), free throw percentage (0.752), blocked shots (28) and offensive rebounds (62). In three seasons, he is 25th on the school’s career scoring list.
Herman, a Prairie High School graduate, made 66.5 percent of his shots (119 of 179) and scored 16.5 points in conference games.
Jackson, a Fort Vancouver High School graduate, scored 12.4 points a game and led CCC women with 2.45 blocks a game and was 7th in NAIA.
Honorable mention for men went to Evergreen State College senior guard Josh Troyer, an Evergreen High graduate.
Stanfill, CWU rugby wins ‘USA 7s’ event
Central Washington won a USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championships qualifier tournament in Las Vegas during February, earning a berth in the CRC Finals tournament in Philadelphia in June.
Tim Stanfill, an Evergreen High School graduate and former Vancouver Sharks Rugby Club player, converted a crucial try to secure CWU’s victory in the finals, 14-0 over Kutztown University.
“It’s crazy,” Stanfill told www.rugbymag.com. “Words can’t even describe what I feel for this team, for everybody back home. The work we put in finally paid off.”
Games of Rugby 7s feature seven-player teams and seven-minute halves, with a faster pace than 15-on-15 matches with 15-minute halves.
Gallagher gets win against Longhorns
Camas High School graduate Zach Gallagher pitched three complete scoreless innings and was awarded the win as the University of Hawai’i baseball team defeated Texas 5-4 in 15 innings Saturday in Honolulu. The Longhorns were ranked No. 7.
Gallagher faced 11 batters in his three innings of work.
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