SEATTLE – Nyesha Sims, who crashed the boards and crashed her way into the record book last Saturday night, has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week.
 
Sims (Portland, Ore.), Seattle Pacific's 5-foot-8 senior guard, hauled down 23 rebounds in Saturday's 69-62 victory against Alaska Fairbanks in Brougham Pavilion. That not only eclipsed her previous career high of 19 (set Jan. 5 at Fairbanks), it matched the GNAC overall single-game record originally set by Northwest Nazarene's Kristin Heim in December 2009.
 
Besides that, it broke the record for most rebounds in a conference game. That mark of 22 had been shared by three players, including former Falcon stars Kristin Poe (2002 against Saint Martin's) and Carli Smith (2005 against Western Washington).
 
For the week, Sims finished with 32 rebounds, 27 points and 11 assists. Last Thursday, she scored a team-high 13, collected nine rebounds and handed out five assists as SPU knocked off No. 8-ranked Alaska Anchorage in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Then on Saturday against Fairbanks, she had 14 points to go along with her 23 boards for her ninth double-double of the season and the 14^th of her career. Sims also had six assists that night to tie her career high.
 
This is Sims' second Player of the Week award. She also was honored once last season. She is the second Falcon to earn it this season, with Rachel Murray having won on Nov. 20 after being named MVP of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic.
 
The Falcons (15-7, 9-4 GNAC) hit the road this week for games at Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at 6 p.m. PST and at Central Washington on Saturday at 7.