PORTLAND, Ore.  – The Montana State University Billings Men's and Women's Basketball teams had 11 student-athletes selected for the Great Northwest Athletic Academic All-Conference team announced Thursday, Feb. 27.
 
A total of 63 student-athletes, including 44 women and 19 men, have been named to the 2013-14 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Basketball Academic all-conference team.
 
Among the women, Annie DePuydt of Montana State Billings and Suzanna Ohlsen of Seattle Pacific have the top GPAs with perfect 4.00 marks.   Chelsea Banis, also of MSU Billings, has a 4.00 GPA in her graduate studies in health administration after posting a 3.66 in her undergraduate work. Teancum Stafford of Alaska Anchorage leads the men's team with a perfect 4.00 grade point average.
 
Montana State Billings placed the most players on the academic team with 11, including nine women. Seattle Pacific earned 10 spots on the academic team (four men and six women). 
 
Eight players – Kyle Fossman and Kylie Burns of Alaska Anchorage, Bobbi Knudsen of Montana State Billings, Leslie Warwick of Northwest Nazarene, Kyle Karnofski of Saint Martin's, Katie Benson and David Downs of Seattle Pacific and Melissa Fowler of Western Oregon –  made the team for the third year in a row.  
 
A total of 21 players - seven men and 14 women - earned their second academic all-conference selection.
 
To be eligible for the Academic All-Conference team, student-athletes must be competing in their second year at university, thus freshman, redshirt freshman and transfers are not eligible.  However, there is an exception for seniors competing for the first time.  All candidates must have a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or better.  The athletes must also participate in at least 50 percent of the teams' contest; or, would have save a side-lining injury.
 
The MSU Billings Women's Basketball team has nine players who were eligible to make the All-Conference team, and all nine players achieved the necessary GPA to be selected for the team.
 
On the men's side, MSU Billings placed two student-athletes on the team.  Both Tyler Nelson and Danny Desin were eligible for the academic honor for the first time this season.
 
"This is a very well deserved honor for both guys," Men's Head Coach Jamie Stevens said.  "They have both been a pleasure to coach and they take care of business in the classroom.  Recently they have both spent a lot of time in the rotation, which shows the effort that both guys have put forth into becoming better players." 
 
Nelson is a junior and playing in his second year at MSUB, after playing his first year of eligibility at Central Wyoming College.  Nelson is majoring in Public Relations.  Desin is also in his second season as a Yellowjacket after redshirting his first year at MSU in Bozeman.  He is in the psychology program at MSUB.
 
For the women's basketball team, senior Bobbi Knudsen has made the team all three years of her eligibility.  Also, making an all-conference team for the third year in a row are seniors Chelsea Banis and Austin Hanser.  Banis was a two-time selection in the Big Sky Conference where she graduated from Montana State with a 3.66.  Hanser was a Frontier All-Conference selection as a competitor at Rocky Mountain College.  
 
"Our MSUB women's basketball players have worked very hard in the classroom and it is great to see them recognized for their efforts," Women's Head Coach Kevin Woodin said.  "Each of them should be very proud of themselves for achieving GNAC academic all-conference honors and I salute all of them for their outstanding academic performances."
 
Led by DePuydt's 4.0, all four juniors, including DePuydt, Janiel Olson, Kayleen Goggins, and Quinn Peoples, have made the team both years of their eligibility, and both sophomores Tenika Capouch and Brandy Kumm were selected in their first year of eligibility. 
 
"These students-athletes are excellent role models and represent MSUB extremely well," Montana State University Billings Athletic Director Krista Montague said.  "The work ethic each student-athlete in our program demonstrates in practice and games carries over to the classroom and we are extremely proud of every one."
 
The MSU Billings Men's Basketball team is in action tonight on the road at Northwest Nazarene University.  With a win tonight, the team would secure a spot in the GNAC Championship tournament next week.  The game tonight in Nampa begins at 7 PM. 
 
The MSUB Women's Basketball team is at home tonight as they will face-off against Alaska Fairbanks for a chance to clinch the GNAC regular season title, and secure the No. 1 seed at next week's GNAC tournament.  That game at Alterowitz is also scheduled for a 7 PM tip-off. 
 
Live video and live stats for both games can be found at MSUBSports.com.
 
2013-14 GNAC Academic Basketball Teams  
 
Men
Teancum Stafford, UAA (Psychology, Jr., 4.00, Auburn, WA)
**Kyle Fossman, UAA (Accounting, Sr., 3.63, Haines, AK)
*Travis Thompson, UAA (Civil Engineering, Jr., 3.44, Anchorage, AK)
*Stefan Tica, UAF (Business Administration, Sr., 3.79, Belgrade, Serbia)
*Sergej Pucar, UAF (Business Administration, Sr., 3.68, Belgrade, Serbia)
Dallen Bills, UAF (Psychology, Sr., 3.64, Inkom, Idaho)
Mark McLaughlin, CWU (Sociology, Sr., 3.36, Bothell, WA)
Tyler Nelson, MSUB (Public Relations, Jr., 3.56, Roosevelt, UT)
Danny Desin, MSUB (Psychology, So., 3.64, Billings, MT)
Grayson Moore, NNU (Kinesiology, Jr., 3.59, Logan, UT)
Mario Donaldson, NNU (Kinesiology, Sr., 3.27, Rockton, IL)
*Brad Norman, SMU (Biology, Sr., 3.48, Eatonville, WA)
*Will Bond, SMU (Finance, Jr., 3.44, Troutdale, OR)
**Kyle Karnofski, SMU (English, Sr., 3.41, Castle Rock, WA)
Lucas Shannon, SMU (Political Science, So., 3.35, Sammamish, WA)
*Riley Stockton, SPU (Business Administration, Jr., 3.88, Spokane, WA)
**David Downs, SPU (Accounting, Sr., 3.80, Kirkland, WA)
Brendan Carroll, SPU (Business Administration, So., 3.43, Brisbane, Australia)
*Ryan Todd, SPU (Business Administration, Jr., 3.29, Mill Creek, WA)
 
Women
Alyssa Hutchins, UAA (Undeclared, So., 3.47, Wasilla, AK)
Jenna Buchanan, UAA (English, So., 3.45, Galena, AK)
Jessica Madison, UAA (Justice, So., 3.32, Port Angeles, WA)
**Kylie Burns, UAA (Dietetics, Sr., 3.29, Kansas City, KS)
Samantha Thornton, UAF (Business Administration, Sr., 3.36, Bremerton, WA)
*Jessica VanDyke, CWU (Clinical Physiology, Sr., 3.90, Chester, MT)
Hannah Shine, CWU (Clinical Physiology, So., 3.87, Lynden, WA)
Melanie Valdez, CWU (Clinical Physiology, So., 3.83, Richland, WA)
Ally Schmitt, CWU (Recreation Tourism, Sr., 3.75, Snohomish, WA)
Daisy Burke, CWU (Law & Justice, Sr., 3.48, Spokane, WA)
Amber Moser, CWU (Business Administration, Sr., 3.41, Willamina, OR)
*Courtney Johnson, CWU (Undeclared, So., 3.36, Kent, WA)
*Annie DePuydt, MSUB (Business Administration, Jr., 4.00, Saco, MT)
Chelsea Banis, MSUB (Health Administration, Sr., 4.00 Grad/3.66 undergrad, Fairfield, MT)
Tenika Capouch, MSUB (Health & Human Performance, So., 3.75, Billings, MT)
*Quinn Peoples, MSUB (Elementary Education, Jr., 3.58, Butte, MT)
*Janiel Olson, MSUB (Business Administration, Jr., 3.57, Billings, MT)
*Kayleen Goggins, MSUB (Elementary Education, Jr., 3.51, Shepherd, MT)
*Austin Hanser, MSUB (History, Sr., 3.50, Billings, MT)
**Bobbi Knudsen, MSUB (Biology, Sr., 3.49, Malta, MT)
Brandy Kumm, MSUB (Health & Human Performance, So., 3.45, Great Falls, MT)
Taylor Simmons, NNU (Biology/Pre-Med, So., 3.98, Middleton, ID)
Katie Swanson, NNU (Graphic Design, So., 3.74, Ridgefield, WA)
Ellen Ferrenburg, NNU (Kinesiology, So., 3.65, Eugene, OR)
**Leslie Warwick, NNU (Kinesiology/Athletic Training, Sr., 3.41, Boise, ID)
*Megan Hingston, NNU (Business Administration, Sr., 3.36, Keizer, OR)
Cierra White, NNU (General Studies, So., 3.29, Modesto, CA)
Krista Stabler, SMU (Civil Engineering, So., 3.56, Silverdale, WA)
*Jori Skorpik, SMU (Math, Jr., 3.26, Kennewick, WA)
Chelsea Haskey, SMU (Biology, Sr., 3.23, Tumwater, WA)
Angela Gelhar, SMU (Education, Jr., 3.20, Vancouver, WA)
*Suzanna Ohlsen, SPU (Biochemistry, Jr., 4.00. Monroe, WA)
**Katie Benson, SPU (Communications, Sr., 3.72, Snohomish, WA)
Maddey Pflaumer, SPU (Psychology, So., 3.62, Issaquah, WA)
Riley Butler, SPU (Physiology, Sr., 3.38, Kent, WA)
Molly Grager, SPU (Applied Human Biology, So., 3.34, Kirkland, WA)
Betsy Kingma, SPU (Accounting, Jr., 3.56, Bellevue, WA)
*Katie Lowen, SFU (Bachelor of Arts, Jr., 3.45, Lethbridge, AB)
Chelsea Reist, SFU (Archaeology, Sr., 3.38, Mission, BC)
*Kia Van Laare, SFU (Kinesiology, Sr., 3.36, New Westminster, BC)
Angie Titus, WOU (Early Childhood Education, So., 3.55, Hood River, OR)
Katie Goddard, WOU (Exercise Science, So., 3.50, Lake Stevens, WA)
**Melissa Fowler, WOU (Biology, Sr., 3.46, Canby, OR)
*Dana Goularte, WOU (Business, Jr., 3.45, Port Orchard, WA)
 
**Two-time repeater *Repeater (Thompson, Haskey and Kingma from 2011-12).