COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — Senior Richelle van der Keijl, junior Cherise Beynon and freshman Mykiel Burleson have each been named to All-Mountain West teams for their outstanding efforts throughout the 2016-17 regular-season, the league announced Monday. Van der Keijl was named Newcomer of the Year while she and Beynon were both named to the All-Mountain West Team.
Beynon was also named to the Mountain West All-Defensive Team while freshman Mykiel Burleson earned her first league honor with a spot on the Mountain West All-Freshman Team.
Official Mountain West Release
van der Keijl, who is just the fourth Lobo to earn Mountain West Newcomer of the Year honors in program history, emerged on the scene this season as a transfer from head coach Mike Bradbury’s previous school, Wright State. The senior made an immediate impact, tallying nine double-doubles including five 20-point games while finishing as the only player in the league to rack up 20 rebounds in a single game this season. van der Keijl is also one of just seven players in the league to join the 30-point club, scoring a career-high 31 points at San Jose State on Feb. 4 to tie for eighth in Lobo history in points in a single game.
Among the league, van der Keijl is ranked first in field goal percentage (59.0) while ranking 18th in the nation in the category. She is also second in rebounds per game (9.7) and in blocked shots per game (2.1) in the conference.
Beynon’s honor marks her third consecutive time being named to an all-conference team after earning Mountain West All-Freshman honors in 2014-15 and All-Mountain West First Team honors last season as a sophomore. Beynon had a breakout season in her junior campaign, hitting two triple-doubles to tie the Lobo program record. She is one of just 23 players in the NCAA this season to tally a triple-double and ties for second in the country with two. She is one of just three players in the nation this season to post more than one.
Not only is she a proven scorer, ranking third in the league in points per game (15.6) while posting seven double-double performances on the year, but she is also among the nation’s top assisters, ranking 13th in the country in assists per game and 14th in total assists. She leads the Mountain West in 10-assist games this season with five. Beynon adds the honor to her already impressive list of accolades this season including CoSIDA Academic All-American.
Burleson earns her spot on the Mountain West All-Freshman Team after starting 22-of-24 games in which she played this season prior to her season-ending injury that came against Air Force on Feb. 8. Burleson scored in double digits 11 times in her inaugural campaign including seven against Mountain West opponents. She completed her season averaging 9.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game and scored a career-high 22 points at Texas Tech on Nov. 20.
The Lobos will return to action on Tuesday, March 7 at 3:30 p.m. MT when they take on Boise State in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 Mountain West Championships.
2016-17 All-Mountain West Honors
All-Mountain West Team
#Brooke Pahukoa, Sr., G, Boise State
Elin Gustavsson, Sr., F, Colorado State
#!^Ellen Nystrom, Sr., G, Colorado State
#Bego Faz Davalos, Jr., C, Fresno State
#Cherise Beynon, Jr., G, New Mexico
Richelle van der Keijl, Sr., F/C, New Mexico
McKynzie Fort, Jr., G, San Diego State
#Dezz Ramos, Sr., G, San José State
Dakota Gonzalez, Jr., G, UNLV
Liv Roberts, Jr., G, Wyoming
Honorable Mention
Marijke Vanderschaaf, So., C, Boise State
Candice White, So., G, Fresno State
Stephanie Schmid, Sr., G, Nevada
Brooke Johnson, Jr., G, UNLV
Rachel Brewster, So., G, Utah State
All-Defensive Team
#^Ellen Nystrom, Sr., G, Colorado State
#Bego Faz Davalos, So., C, Fresno State
Cherise Beynon, Jr., G, New Mexico
Brooke Johnson, Jr., G, UNLV
Liv Roberts, Jr., G, Wyoming
All-Freshman Team
Mariah Forde, Fr., G, Air Force
Riley Lupfer, Fr., G, Boise State
Mykiel Burleson, Fr., G, New Mexico
Shannon Dufficy, Fr., F, Utah State
Eliza West, Fr., G, Utah State
Taylor Rusk, Fr., F, Wyoming
Player of the Year: Ellen Nystrom, Sr., G, Colorado State#
Defensive Player of the Year: Bego Faz Davalos, Jr., C, Fresno State#
Newcomer of the Year: Richelle van der Keijl, Sr., F/C, New Mexico
Freshman of the Year: Eliza West, Fr., G, Utah State
Sixth Player of the Year: Marta Gomez, So., F, Wyoming
Coach of the Year: Joe Legerski, Wyoming
# 2015-16 selection
^ 2014-15 selection
! 2013-14 selection