PACWEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

IRVINE, Calif. – Natalie Diaz from Dominican and Point Loma’s Roya Rustamzada led the 2017-18 selections to the PacWest All-Conference Team as Co-Players of the Year, while Rustamzada was also selected as the PacWest Defender of the Year.
 
Diaz and Rustamzada lead the special awards along with PacWest Newcomer of the Year Savanna Hanson from Co-PacWest Champion Azusa Pacific as well as PacWest Freshman of the Year Michaela Vanderklugt from Concordia. Hawai`i Pacific was the PacWest’s Regular Season Co-Champion and head coach Reid Takatsuka was selected as the PacWest Coach of the Year.
 
Rustamzada was picked by coaches around the league as the Co-Player of the Year, Defender of the Year and All-PacWest First Team selection. In her senior year at Point Loma, she became the program’s all-time leading rebounder in the same game that she broke the PacWest’s all-time record, reaching 987 career boards. The senior tallied 17 double-doubles on the season as she averaged 15.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Rustamzada’s best individual performance on the season came on the road against Dixie State, when she recorded 25 points, 19 rebounds, four steals and a block to lead the Sea Lions to an 85-80 victory.
 
Diaz is among the best scorers in the nation this season as she averages 23.9 points per game, having made a PacWest record 262 field goals. The three-time PacWest Player of the Week scored in double digits in all but one game this year. At Academy of Art, Diaz scored a season-high 34 points with 13 rebounds. It was one of six times this year that Diaz has scored at least 30 points in a game.
 
Hanson helped Azusa Pacific win its second PacWest regular season title in three years. Hanson checked all the categories on the box score each night, averaging 13.9 points and 8.9 rebounds as she tallied 84 assists, 55 steals and 23 blocks in her first year at Azusa Pacific. Hanson was a second-team all-conference selection as she helped Azusa Pacific go 27-3 on the season.
 
Vanderklugt had a strong finish to her freshman campaign to earn recognition from PacWest coaches as the Freshman of the Year. The freshman was a third-team selection as she averaged 15.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. In the Eagles’ home win against Holy Names, Vanderklugt scored a career-high 32 points to go along with nine rebounds and two assists. She scored at least 11 points in each of the final 14 games of the regular season.
 
Takatsuka led Hawai`i Pacific back to the top of the conference standings, winning the conference title for the third time in program history and the first time since 2015. The Sharks finished the regular season with a 24-3 record that was highlighted by a 19-game winning streak that included a 4-0 effort on the trip to Southern California, beating Point Loma, California Baptist, Azusa Pacific and Biola.
 
Six different teams are represented on the All-PacWest first team with Co-Champions Azusa Pacific and Hawai`i Pacific being represented by Abbigail Goodsell and Jessi Reeves, respectively. The PacWest Tournament’s No. 3 seed California Baptist is represented by Tori Mitchell, while DeMoria White represents Biola in its first year in the PacWest. Azusa Pacific and Hawai`i Pacific each had four players represented on the three all-PacWest teams.
 

2017-18 ALL-PACWEST WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AWARDS
Player of the Year	Natalie Diaz	Dominican
	Roya Rustamzada	Point Loma
Defender of the Year	Roya Rustamzada	Point Loma
Newcomer of the Year	Savanna Hanson	Azusa Pacific
Freshman of the Year	Michaela Vanderklugt	Concordia
Coach of the Year	Reid Takatsuka	Hawai’i Pacific

 
Honorable Mention: Jazzlynn Brewster (Academy of Art), Marissa Caballero * (Notre Dame de Namur), Allie Navarette (Hawai’i Hilo), Lexy Ram (California Baptist), Montana Walter * (Concordia)
 
* - Previous All-PacWest selection