Division II Bulletin women's All-American list (PDF)
Division II Bulletin men's All-American list (PDF)
SEATTLE – The impact that
Daesha Henderson and Chris Banchero made on the basketball court locally and regionally is getting noticed nationally. The two Seattle Pacific stars – senior guard Henderson on the women's side, junior point guard Banchero for the men – have been named All-Americans by the Division II Bulletin.
Banchero (Seattle/O'Dea HS) was named to the Bulletin's second team. Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) was a third-team selection by the Women's Bulletin.
The 5-foot-8 Henderson was the driving force behind SPU's trip to the Women's Elite Eight. While other players in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference had better stat numbers, Henderson did so much at both ends of the court that the conference coaches voted her as GNAC Player of the Year earlier this month.
For the season, Henderson averaged 13.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.6 steals in a team-leading 28.7 minutes per game in leading the Falcons to sole possession of the GNAC and NCAA West Regional championships, and a final overall record of 27-4.
Henderson rewrote her single-game career highs for points (30) and rebounds (8), and tied her single-game bests in steals (7) and blocked shots (2).
She passed the 1,000-point career scoring mark, finishing with 1,051 for her four years. She also joined SPU's all-time top five in steals, winding up in a tie for fourth with 231. In addition, Henderson climbed into No. 17 on the GNAC's all-time assist list with 275 for her career.
Henderson, along with her spot among the conference all-stars, was a second-team Daktronics West Region selection, and was on the list of five players from the West on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/State Farm Coaches All-American finalist list. She was a third-team preseason All-American choice in the Division II Bulletin.
Henderson scores in the classroom, as well, earning GNAC All-Academic honors with her 3.49 grade-point average biology. She has aspirations toward dentistry.
BANCHERO KEYS SPU'S CONFERNCE CROWN
Banchero led the Falcon men to a 22-6 record, the GNAC title, and a berth in the NCAA West regionals. Just last week, he was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)/State Farm All-American second team. Earlier this month, the conference coaches voted Banchero as GNAC Player of the Year.
The 6-1 Banchero was the second-leading scorer in the GNAC at 19.6 points per game. He finished 11th in the conference in both field goal shooting (52 percent) and assists (2.9), and was No. 13 in steals (1.3).
With Banchero often providing the spark – not to mention a pair of game-winning buzzer beaters – the Falcons went 13-3 in GNAC play to claim their first outright conference championship since 2006.
Banchero led the Falcons in scoring 18 times in 28 games, including two performances in the 30s, and 16 in the 20s. It was a 34-point effort on Feb. 25 that helped SPU clinch the GNAC title with a 100-92 homecourt victory against Central Washington.
Banchero is one of three Seattle Pacific starters – fellow junior Ryan Sweet and sophomore Jake Anderson are the others – who will be returning next season.
