The Clan basketball teams have wrapped up their regular seasons, and with the season’s end come the Great Northwest Athletic Conference awards. This year, Erin Chambers headlines the Clan women’s nominees, following an all-star season which saw the junior take control of the team’s offence and lead the team and the conference in scoring.
The 6’1” guard/forward combo averaged 22.7 points per game this season, the eighth best scoring average in all of the NCAA Division II. The team’s co-captain was unanimously selected by all GNAC coaches to the first all-star team, one of only three women to earn this honour this season.
However, Chambers remains modest about the accomplishment.
“It is an awesome accomplishment and I feel very honoured to be named to the all-star team of such a competitive league,” said Chambers, who also took the time to acknowledge her teammates’ support this season.
One of those teammates, Katie Lowen, earned honourable mention for the all-star awards, as the junior was second for the Clan in points, first in three-point field goal percentage and second
in steals.
The women’s program also received GNAC all-academic honours as three athletes were named to the 2013-14 team. Lowen and Kia Van Laare are repeat honourees from last season, while senior Chelsea Reist is a first time honouree. To be eligible, student-athletes must have a minimum grade-point average of 3.20 (cumulative) and be in at least their second year of competition at their current university.
On the men’s side, Sango Niang was named to the GNAC second all-star team, his first conference honour after transferring to the Clan for the 2013-14 season. Niang started in 23 of 24 games, helping the men’s program earn their highest overall win total since moving to the NCAA.
He’s also only the second Clan man to be named to a GNAC all-star team, following Justin Brown’s nomination in 2011-12. Niang averaged 16.3 points and 5.6 assists per game in his first NCAA season, and was eighth in the conference in point average and third in assists.
“I tried to just play aggressive all season, get my teammates involved and ultimately, tried to win games,” explained the junior. Now, with his season over, his attention turns to preparation for the 2014-15 season, where the Clan will look to continue improving in the conference standings.
