Women’s basketball notebook: Brianna King rules Frontier Conference this season

No, Montana Western star Brianna King isn’t the only impressive player in the Frontier Conference.

She’s just that much better than everyone else right now.

For the sixth consecutive week, the former North Central and Community Colleges of Spokane standout earned the conference’s distinction as player of the week.

King helped the third-ranked Bulldogs (19-1) take down a pair ranked teams on the road last week – No. 8 Carroll 60-46 and No. 17 Rocky Mountain College 61-51 – and averaged 25 points, 3.5 rebounds and two assists in the wins.

Carroll (15-6) features former Spokane-area standouts Brittney Johnson (Ferris), Jaidyn Lyman (Mt. Spokane), Molly McDermott (Gonzaga Prep) and Sienna Swannack (Lakeside).

The 5-foot-5 King averages 22 points for Montana Western, a team she led to the program’s first NAIA Final Four last season.

King, the reigning conference player of the year, scored 40 points in last year’s NAIA quarterfinals, the second-highest output of her college career.

At CCS, King set the school’s career scoring record (1,175 points), led the Sasquatch to a Northwest Athletic Conference championship and was named the NWAC MVP. She scored a career-high 46 points against Everett in the 2017 NWAC quarterfinals.

Hovren continues to climb Army’s record book

Former Central Valley standout Madison Hovren moved up to fourth on Army’s all-time scoring list.

The West Point senior scored 26 points in a 73-50 loss to Lehigh last week, putting her at 1,490 points, a mark that also ranks 24th in Patriot League history.

She also had 18 rebounds in the loss, moving her up to third all time at Army (949 career rebounds) and eighth in league history.

NIC, CCS ranked in NWAC

North Idaho (16-4, 6-2) checked in at No. 6 in the most recent NWAC rankings, one slot ahead of seventh-ranked rival CC Spokane (15-6, 4-5).

Koyama Young of Lapwai, Idaho, leads CCS with 13.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Alivia Williams of Frenchtown, Montana, leads the Cardinals at 13.1 points per game.

NIC, which beat CCS 60-48 in Spokane last week, faces the Sasquatch again Feb. 20 in Coeur d’Alene.