Anderson, Gfeller named All-Big Sky

Montana junior Abby Anderson and sophomore Carmen Gfeller were named All-Big Sky Conference on Sunday afternoon following voting by the league's coaches.

Anderson and Gfeller both earned third-team honors. It marks the first time since the 2015-16 season that the Lady Griz have had a pair of players voted All-Big Sky.

Northern Colorado sophomore Alisha Davis was voted Most Valuable Player and highlighted the five-player first team.

She was joined by Dora Goles of regular-season champion Idaho, Beyonce Bea and Gabi Harrington of runner-up Idaho and Darian White of third-place Montana State.

White also was named the Defensive Player of the Year.

Northern Arizona's Jacqulynn Nakai was voted Newcomer of the Year, Eastern Washington's Maisie Burnham the Freshman of the Year, Idaho's Hailey Christopher the Top Reserve.

Gfeller scored 87 points as a true freshman in 2018-19 and redshirted last season.

She wasted no time announcing herself this year, going for 21 and 26 points on 63.3 percent shooting in Montana's first two games against Utah State and North Dakota.

She would score in double figures in 10 of the first 11 games, go through a midseason dry spell, then finish as strong as she started.

She had 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting in Montana's second game against Idaho State, 14 on Friday night on 7-of-10 shooting at Idaho.

"She quickly became a focal point for opponents to defend and she still maintained her efficiency. She had a great year for us," said coach Mike Petrino.

Gfeller finished the regular season shooting 53.4 percent to lead the Big Sky and tied for second at the free throw line (.868). Her scoring average of 14.5 ranked sixth in the league.

"For her to lead the league in field goal percentage is a huge credit to her and how consistent she's been. She's been a great teammate," said Petrino.

Anderson had a breakout season in 2019-20, when her numbers spiked across the board. In 2020-21, her performance jumped again.

She is averaging 12.3 points on 46.5 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds, and she leads the Big Sky in blocked shots (2.3/g) for one of the Big Sky's better defensive teams.

"Abby had a breakout year last year and just elevated her overall game this year," said Petrino. "She continued to improve and was a huge factor for us offensively and defensively."

Anderson had 17 double-figure scoring games of the 21 she played and five times grabbed 10 or more rebounds to register four double-doubles.

She blocked a shot in all but two games, with five in wins over Sacramento State and Weber State as she moved into the top 10 in Lady Griz history in that category.

"How she impacted the game on the offensive end around the basket and the way she could impact the game defensively was a huge factor for us," said Petrino.

Montana will take the No. 6 seed into this week's Big Sky tournament in Boise. The Lady Griz (12-10, 9-8 BSC) will play No. 11 Sacramento State (2-21, 2-18 BSC) on Monday at 8 p.m.

The winner of that game will face No. 3 Montana State (16-6, 13-3 BSC) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

All-Big Sky First Team
Alisha Davis, Northern Colorado
Beyonce Bea, Idaho
Darian White, Montana State
Dora Goles, Idaho State
Gabi Harrington, Idaho

All-Big Sky Second Team
Gina Marxen, Idaho
Liz Graves, Southern Utah
Diaba Konate, Idaho State
Regan Schenck, Northern Arizona
Tori Martell, Montana State

All-Big Sky Third Team
Carmen Gfeller, Montana
Khiarica Rasheed, Northern Arizona
Desirae Hansen, Portland State
Abby Anderson, Montana
Kylie Jimenez, Portland State

All-Big Sky Honorable Mention
Jacqulynn Nakai, Northern Arizona
Maisie Burnham, Eastern Washington
Summer Menke, Sacramento State
Cherita Daugherty, Southern Utah
Daryn Hickok, Weber State

Big Sky Individual Awards
Most Valuable Player: Alisha Davis, Northern Colorado
Freshman of the Year: Maisie Burnham, Eastern Washington
Defensive Player of the Year: Darian White, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year: Jacqulynn Nakai, Northern Arizona
Top Reserve: Hailey Christopher, Idaho

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Carmen Gfeller

Gabi Harrington

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