BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University women’s basketball senior forward Hannah Stipanovich has been selected to the All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference Second Team while sophomore guard Dani Iwami has been named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year, announced Wednesday by the conference office in Portland, Ore.
Stipanovich (St. Louis, MO/MSU Denver) was one of six players selected to the All-GNAC Second Team while Iwami (Seal Beach, CA/Hawai’i Pacific) became the third WWU player to be named GNAC Newcomer of the Year in the history of the award.
Stipanovich was the only Viking to start all 28 games during the season and led WWU averaging 12.6 points per game while averaging 6.9 rebounds per game to tie for the top rebounding average on the team. She totaled 20 games with a double-digit scoring total, including four games of 20+ points, to lead or tie for the team lead in scoring during 12 of those games.
Among GNAC leaders, Stipanovich ranks 14th in scoring average, 6th in rebounding, 2nd in offensive rebounds (2.8/g), 13th in defensive rebounds (4.0/g), 7th in field goal percentage (48.9%/135-of-276) and 9th in steals (1.8/g). She posted three double-digit rebounding games with two double-doubles during the season and was named to three All-Tournament teams. Stipanovich also reached the 1,000-point milestone during the season, concluding her career (WWU and MSU Denver combined) with 1,031 points.
Iwami joins Jessica Summers (2009) and Mollie Stelmack (2006) as Vikings to receive the GNAC Newcomer of the Year honor. After transferring from Hawai’i Pacific University, she made an immediate impact for the Vikings with 25 starts while appearing in all 28 games. Iwami averaged 9.4 points per game, leading the Vikings in 3-point field goals made (34.7%/58-of-167).
She also averaged 4.0 assists per game, including 4+ assists in 9 of the last 12 games of the season. Iwami had a career-best 9 assists in a game on three occasions during the season. She ranks 6th in the GNAC in assists per game, 8th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.0) and 4th in 3-pointers made per game (2.1).
About WWU Basketball:
One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in seven of the last eight seasons and 34 times in the 47-year history of the program. WWU has 20 seasons of 20 or more wins under head coach Carmen Dolfo, who is the winningest coach of any sport at WWU and ranks among Division II active and all-time coaching leaders in wins, win percentage and 20-win seasons. The Vikings have reached the NCAA II Tournament in 16 of 19 seasons at the Division II level with two trips to the Final Four. WWU is a five-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season champion and two-time GNAC Championships tournament champion. The Vikings are coming off a 2016-17 season where the program went 26-6, including an 18-2 record in conference play, and advanced to the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II West Regional. The program has 1,005 all-time wins in the 47-year history of the program, and according to available records is the 15th women’s college basketball team across all divisions and levels to reach the milestone.
— @WWUWBB —
