PORTLAND, Ore. – Three players from the Montana State University Billings women's basketball team earned all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference recognition, as the conference office announced its awards for the 2018-19 season on Wednesday.
 
Sophomore point guard Hannah Collins was a second-team all-conference selection, while senior forward Vanessa Stavish and freshman forward Taryn Shelley were each honorable mention picks. "It was nice to see Hannah, Taryn, and Vanessa all recognized as all-conference performers this year," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "Vanessa has been a consistent player for us for multiple years, and I thought she improved her defense and rebounding. Taryn really improved throughout the season, and had some very impressive games. She became a key component to our interior offense and defense. Hannah gained a lot of experience on what it takes to be a premier point guard in this league, and also had many great games."
 
A native of Great Falls, Collins started 25 games in her first season running the Yellowjackets' offense. She finished the year No. 2 in the conference in scoring, with an average of 14.8 points per game as she totaled 370 points on the year. Collins averaged 30.2 minutes per game, and led the team with 84 assists which ranked No. 9 in the conference (3.4 apg). Collins shot 39.2 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from 3-point range, and her free-throw percentage of 84.2 was the fifth-highest mark in the GNAC.
 
Collins totaled 34 steals, and maintained a positive assist-turnover ratio at plus-1.3 after giving the ball up just 65 times. Collins established a career high of 29 points in her first game of the year against the University of Providence, and matched the figure on January 12 at the University of Alaska. She was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 2018 Yellowjacket Classic on November 23-25.
 
Stavish finished her five-year career on a high note, as her marks of 11.8 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game were each personal bests. Stavish ranked second on the team in scoring, and completed a pair of double-doubles in her final collegiate campaign. She also had 53 assists against 49 turnovers, while shooting 36.6 percent overall, 28.8 percent from 3-point range, and 77.8 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Stavish's senior year included personal bests of 23 points on February 23 at Concordia and 15 rebounds on January 26 against Western Oregon. She also had a career single-game best eight assists on November 9 against Providence, and overall she averaged 28.7 minutes while playing in all 26 games and starting 25.
 
In her first collegiate season on the court, Shelley established herself as one of the top post players in the league. She led the team with 8.2 rebounds per game, and in blocked shots with 1.8 per game, which ranked third and second in the GNAC, respectively. On top of that, Shelley was fourth on the team with 11.1 points per game, and she played in all 26 while earning 22 starts.
 
Shelley had six double-doubles on the season, including a personal-best game of 25 points and 18 rebounds against the University of Alaska on February 7. Shelley was also named the GNAC Player of the Week for December 17-23, after a 19-point, 15-rebound performance against Maryville.
 
Hannah Wandersee was named the GNAC Player of the Year, after leading the University of Alaska Anchorage to its fifth straight conference crown. Seawolves head coach Ryan McCarthy was rewarded with GNAC Coach of the Year as well. Simon Fraser University's Ozi Nwabuko was picked as the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, and Olivia Vezaldenos of Concordia University was the GNAC Newcomer of the Year after leading the league in scoring at 15.9 points per game.
 
Shelley narrowly lost out to Claire Dingus of Saint Martin's University, as the latter was named the GNAC Freshman of the Year after averaging 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
 
MSUB finished the 2018-19 season with a record of 12-14 overall, and took seventh place in the GNAC with a conference mark of 8-12.