Richter is GSAC Player of Year

Vanguard University junior Jessica Richter has been named Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year, it was announced Tuesday.

Lions seniors Kelly Schmidt, Rachel Besse and Lacey Burns were also named to the All-GSAC Team, while Lions Coach Russ Davis was named Coach of the Year.

Richter, Schmidt and Besse were all repeat selections from 2006 for Vanguard (25-0, 20-0 in conference), the No. 1-ranked team in NAIA Division I and the regular-season GSAC champions. The Lions have a GSAC Tournament quarterfinal game tonight at The Pit against Concordia at 7:30 p.m.

As regular-season GSAC champion, Vanguard has already qualified for the NAIA Tournament, which begins March 14 in Jackson, Tenn.

Richter, a guard from Oregon City, Ore., has averaged 20.3 points per game for Vanguard, which ranked third in the conference. She led the conference in steals (4.12 a game), was third in three-pointers made (64) and fourth in free-throw percentage (.804).

Schmidt, a forward and the defending NAIA National Player of the Year, averaged 13.6 points per game this year for Vanguard, which ranked 14th in conference. She was 13th in rebounding (6.5 per game), and sixth in both field-goal percentage (.539) and free-throw percentage (.801).

Besse, a center, scored 11.2 points per game for Vanguard, part of the Lions’ conference-best team total of 86 points per game. Besse was first in conference with her .624 field-goal percentage and second in blocked shots (1.44 per game). She was ninth in the GSAC in rebounding (7.2 per game), and eighth in steals (2.32 per game).

Burns, a forward, scored 14.6 points per game for the Lions, which ranked 11th in the conference. She led the GSAC with 3.28 three-pointers per game, and was second in three-point percentage (.432).

Davis, the Coach of the Year, has won 56 straight regular-season games and 43 straight regular-season GSAC games at the Lions’ helm. Vanguard has won five consecutive GSAC regular-season championships.

Rowan Gray of San Diego Christian, the men’s co-conference champions, was named GSAC men’s basketball player of the year.