College Basketball: Umpqua men and women earn All-Region honors
VANCOUVER — The Umpqua Riverhawks are gearing up for the NWAC basketball championship tournament starting later this week in Pasco, Washington. Both the men and the women had successful seasons leading to a spot in the tourney, but the Riverhawks also earned a number of All-Region awards, announced by the conference on Monday.
The awards were voted on by coaches in each region.
The Umpqua men had three players recognized after winning the South Region title with a 13-3 league record.
Sophomore Mikey Lloyd was named to the All-Region first team. The Jerome, Idaho product led the Riverhawks in scoring with 17.1 points per game. He also added 7.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.
Jackson McKee was voted second team All-Region. He ranked 7th in the conference with 8.8 rebounds per game and added 14.1 points per game.
Freshman big-man Brayden Whitehead was named the South Region Defensive Player of the Year after leading the entire NWAC with nearly 3 blocked shots per game.
The Umpqua women saw Kaelyn Shoemaker and Rebekah Beltran earn first team selections after leading the Riverhawks back to the conference tournament.
They both ranked in the top 15 in scoring in the conference, while Shoemaker was top 5 in rebounds per game (17.0) and field goal percentage (52.7) and Beltran was top 5 in assists per game (4.9).
Shoemaker was also named the South Region Freshman of the Year. She finished the year with 21 double-doubles.
Fellow freshman Giselle Muffett was voted to the All-Region second team. She led the team in scoring with 17.6 points per game.
The Umpqua men and women are preparing for their first playoff games. The men start the postseason at noon Thursday against Centralia. The women play at 10 a.m. Saturday against South Puget Sound.
