PORTLAND, Ore. — The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) today announced its 2025-26 Women's Basketball All-Conference teams, with Saint Martin's players Avery Oaster, Jada Travis, Laiken Hill, and Kiana Rios earning all-conference honors.
Junior forward Avery Oaster headlined the awards, earning first-team All-GNAC and Defensive Player of the Year honors. Jada Travis earned Second Team All-GNAC, and Laiken Hill and Kiana Rios each earned All-GNAC Honorable Mention.
"These four are a fun combination of youth and veterans, which is what makes this team so special," Head Coach Natalie Marlowe said. "In the pre-season, we spent a lot of time learning each other as individuals, not as teammates. These four have taken a lot of pride in their intentionality to grow as a team, which has lead to their individual successes. When you can find cohesiveness amongst upper and lower classmen, you see the production for the group flourish and its a testament to our team first philosophy."
Oaster led the Saints in rebounding during the regular season, grabbing 8.2 boards per game to rank sixth in the GNAC. She ranks sixth in the conference with 1.2 blocks per game and 13th with 12.6 points per game. She tallied seven double-doubles this season and helped the Saints rank 18th in Division II with 55.0 points allowed per game.
"Over the winter break, our team did some reflecting after coming off some losses. Our players decide they wanted to hang their hats on being the best defensive team in the conference," Marlowe said. "Avery was at the forefront of that statement. She has owned up to that challenge and exceeded expectations. We take a lot of pride in our defense. I've always said 'defense is desire' and this team embodies that. Avery is incredibly competitive and plays with distinct passion. A DPOY award is all about effort, desire, and the love for the game. I'm so proud of how Avery has approached this season and earned every ounce of recognition she deserves."
Sophomore guard Jada Travis earned her second All-GNAC nod of her career, leading the Saints with 13.3 points per game, ranking 10th among all GNAC players. Travis averaged 3.3 assists per game this season, ranking seventh in the GNAC. Defensively, her 1.9 steals per game ranks sixth among all conference players.
Senior guard Kiana Rios earned her second all-conference selection of her career, tallying another strong season in red and black. She averaged 12.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while leading the GNAC with an 89.1% free-throw percentage.
"Kiana has been a swiss-army knife for us and her time in the GNAC as provided her experience to succeed in big moments. She has played every position on the court for us at some point which is hard for teams to match-up with," Marlowe said. "Jada continues to prove she's been one of the most consistent problems in the GNAC over the last two seasons. As she continues to grow into a 3-level scorer, she's will continue to develop into one of the best players in the conference. I have all the confidence in her with the ball in her hands."
Laiken Hill earned her first All-GNAC nod, being named to the Honorable Mention list. Hill averaged 10.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. She led all GNAC players with a 41.7% three-point shooting rate.
"Laiken lives in the gym. Sometimes I check her locker to see if there's a pillow and blanket in there...Her work ethic is why she has improved," Marlowe said. "Coming off an injury-ridden freshmen year, no one really saw how talented she was until she was healthy this year. She can flat out shoot and puts the time in. In the post-season last year we worked on speeding up her shot and improving her footwork. She would send videos throughout the summer of her in the gym repping her footwork and shot so I could critique. Laiken has put in to many hours by herself, teammates and with our coaching staff, no one is surprised to see her success show up statistically."
The Saints finished the regular season with a record of 18-9 overall and 14-4 in GNAC play, the second most GNAC wins in a season in program history. Saint Martin's enters the GNAC tournament as the No. 3 seed, facing No. 6 Montana State Billings in the quarterfinals on March 5.
