Eastern Washington, Idaho players and staff earn All-Big Sky recognition

Eastern Washington guard Isaiah Moses was one of five unanimous Big Sky First Team All-Conference selections and was named Newcomer of the Year in the league’s annual men’s basketball awards announced Friday.

Moses, a redshirt senior who transferred from UC Riverside, ranks sixth in the league in scoring (17.9 points per game) and leads all of Division I in free-throw percentage (93.5%).

Idaho’s Jackson Rasmussen was named Freshman of the Year, and Isaiah Brickner, his senior teammate, was named Top Reserve.

Eastern Washington junior forward Alton Hamilton IV and grad senior forward Kiree Huie were named Second Team All-Conference. Idaho redshirt sophomore Kolton Mitchell was named Honorable Mention.

Portland State was recognized with three major awards: senior forward Terri Miller Jr. as Big Sky Most Valuable Player, Tre-Vaughn Minott as Defensive Player of the Year and Jase Coburn as Coach of the Year. The Vikings won the league’s regular-season title and are the No. 1 seed in this week’s conference tournament.

Joining Moses and Miller Jr. on the All-Conference First Team are Quinn Denker (Northern Colorado), Jed Miller (Montana State), Money Williams (Montana), Jaylin Henderson (Portland State) and Tijan Saine Jr. (Weber State).

Moses, Miller Jr., Miller, Denker and Williams were unanimously chosen by the league’s coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own players.

Women

Vandals second-year head coach Arthur Moreira was named Big Sky women’s basketball coach of the year after leading Idaho to a regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in this week’s conference tournament in Boise.

Idaho senior Kyra Gardner, a transfer from Washington State, was named Newcomer of the Year, and her senior teammate Debora dos Santos was named the Big Sky’s Top Reserve.

Gardner and Idaho junior guard Hope Hassmann were named First Team All-Conference; dos Santos was named Second Team. She was joined there by Eastern Washington senior guard Ella Gallatin and sophomore forward Kourtney Grossman.

Idaho sophomore guard Ana Pinheiro was named to the All-Defensive team.

Montana State sophomore guard Taylee Chirrick was named Big Sky Most Valuable Player and the Defensive Player of the Year. The latter is an award she also won as a freshman. Chirrick ranks second in the league in scoring (17.8 points per game) and eighth in rebounding (7 per game), and she led the league in steals at 4.3 per game.

Northern Arizona’s Naomi White, who leads the league in scoring at 20.7 points per game, was named the Big Sky Freshman of the Year.

Joining Chirrick, White, Gardner and Hassmann on the All-Conference First Team are Montana State’s Addison Harris and a pair of Idaho State players, Kacey Spink and Tasia Jordan.

The Big Sky Conference Tournaments – men’s and women’s – begin Saturday at Idaho Central Arena in Boise.