Mountain West Announces 2015-16 Women's Basketball All-Conference Team

Mountain West Network announcement
@MW_WHoops on Twitter
2016 Championship Central

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 11 MW women’s basketball coaches chose Colorado State junior Ellen Nystrom as the Mountain West Women’s Basketball Player of the Year for 2015-16 as the All-Conference team and individual award winners were announced today. Colorado State head coach Ryun Williams earned his second MW Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Rams to an undefeated Conference season and CSU’s third consecutive regular season crown. Fresno State sophomore Bego Faz Davalos was awarded Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Boise State rookie Marta Hermida was chosen as the Freshman of the Year. San José State’s Dezz Ramos was recognized as the Newcomer of the Year and Spartan’s senior Riana Byrd was named 6th Player of the Year.

Three seniors, three juniors and four sophomores make up this year’s All-MW team. Nystrom, a three-time All-Mountain West selection, was one of two repeat honorees, along with Wyoming senior Marquelle Dent. Dent makes her second appearance on the league’s postseason teams.

Joining Nystrom, Faz Davalos, Ramos and Dent on the team are Boise State junior Brooke Pahukoa and sophomore Shalen Shaw, as well as Colorado State seniors Jamie Patrick and Keyora Wharry, New Mexico sophomore Cherise Beynon and Utah State sophomore Funda Nakkasoglu.

Six players received honorable mention – Boise State senior Miquelle Askew, Fresno State senior Toni Smith, Nevada senior Nyasha LeSure, New Mexico senior Khadijah Shumpert, San Diego State sophomore McKynzie Fort and UNLV sophomore Dakota Gonzalez.

Nystrom, Faz Davalos, Shumpert, Fort and Dent were also named to the MW All-Defensive Team. Hermida was joined on the All-Freshman Team by Fresno State’s Breanna Knishka, Nevada’s Riana Everidge, New Mexico’s Jaisa Nunn, Utah State’s Rachel Brewster and Wyoming’s Marta Gomez.

Williams guided the Rams to the MW regular-season title at 18-0. CSU finished the regular season 28-1 overall and are the No. 1 seed in the 2016 Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship, March 7-9 and 11, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Profiles of 2015-16 MW Individual Award honorees

Ellen Nystrom (Colorado State) – Player of the Year
Nystrom led the Rams to their third consecutive MW regular season title. The junior guard was one of three CSU players to average 10.0 or more points in Conference play at 11.1 in 18 games. She led the league with a 2.60 assist/turnover ratio and was second in league action with 5.7 assists per game. Nystrom added 5.8 rebounds per game, while shooting .493 from the field and .790 from the free throw line. She ended Conference action ranked in nine of 13 statistical categories. A native of Sweden, Nystrom averaged 33.1 minutes per game.

Bego Faz Davalos (Fresno State) – Defensive Player of the Year
Faz Davalos set a Mountain West single-season record for blocked shots with 77 in Conference play for an average of 4.3 per game. The native of Mexico was third in rebounding with 8.7 boards per Conference game for the Bulldogs. She also averaged 11.6 points and 6.1 defensive rebounds. Faz Davalos recorded seven double-doubles in Conference action, the second-most in the league.

Dezz Ramos (San José State) – Newcomer of the Year
Ramos finished Conference play ranked second in points scored with 17.2 points per game for the Spartans. She was second in free throw percentage (.853), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.7) and fifth in assists per game (4.3). The native of West Valley, Utah averaged 1.6 3-point field goals and 1.3 steals per contest.

Marta Hermida (Boise State) – Freshman of the Year
Hermida earned her way into the Broncos starting lineup and averaged 33.8 minutes per game at guard. The native of Spain averaged 10.7 points and 2.8 assists per contest in Conference play. She also averaged 1.3 steals and 1.8 3-point field goals per game, while shooting .371 from behind the 3-point arc.

Riana Byrd (San José State) – Sixth Player of the Year
Byrd came off the bench in 17 of 18 MW games for the Spartans, while averaging 18.7 minutes per game. The senior center from Richmond, California was second in league play with 8.7 rebounds per contest and third with 1.3 blocked shots per game. She also averaged 7.6 points per game in Conference action. Byrd recorded double-digit rebounds in seven contests.

Ryun Williams (Colorado State) – Coach of the Year
Williams guided the Rams to an undefeated 18-0 mark as Colorado State won its third consecutive Conference regular season title. The Rams led the league in 10 statistical categories, including scoring offense (70.9), scoring defense (53.8) and scoring margin (+17.1). CSU posted the best field goal percentage (.464) and 3-point field goal percentage (.390) in league play. Overall, Colorado State is 28-1 and on a 25-game win streak going into the 2016 MW Championship this week in Las Vegas.

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