SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's basketball senior guard Nici Gilday was named First Team All-WCC on Tuesday by the league's head coaches. She was MVP of the Air Force Classic and also named to the All-Tournament Team. She was named WCC Player of the Week on Dec. 8. Last season Gilday was All-WCC Honorable Mention.
"It's truly and honor to be named All-WCC in a conference with so many great players," said Gilday. "I am blessed to have great coaches who put me in a position to be successful. Coach J is very good at calling plays and making adjustments to help me get shots. Coach T has really challenged me to become a better defender and Coach B and Coach Shan have pushed me to build better habits and skills every day that have helped me so much. My teammates set a lot of great screens to help me be successful as well."
"We're very proud of Nici and the honor is well deserved as she is one of the best players in this conference," said Santa Clara head coach JR Payne. "She has carried us every night throughout the season, which is difficult to do. She has been so consistent against special defenses that are designed to stop her. She exemplifies everything we care about in our student-athletes. She's tough, loyal, selfless, and a great teammate. She is everything we would want in a player."
Gilday leads Santa Clara with 19.2 ppg, second in the conference, on 39.6% (177-447) shooting from the field. She is tops on the team in threes made (66), attempted (188), three point percentage (36.5%), and steals (1.6). She also leads the nation in free throw shooting (94.2%) and is first in the conference in minutes per game (35.0). She adds 2.9 rpg and 1.5 apg.
She is fourth in Santa Clara history in scoring with 1,381 points. As of now her 11.8 ppg sits at No. 9 on the Santa Clara all-time list. She is No. 4 in field goals made with 505. Gilday is No. 4 in field goal attempts with 1,211. Her 87.0% mark from the free throw line is tops in Broncos history.
She is also 10th with 143 steals. Gilday has played 117 games, which is fourth all-time and played 3,250 minutes, which is No. 4 all-time.
On the single season list Gilday currently sits at No. 1 in free throw percentage (94.2), No. 3 in field goal attempts (447), No. 5 in points (518), T-No. 5 in scoring average (19.2), and No. 10 in threes made (66) and threes attempted (181).
