IRVINE, Calif. – Four Concordia University Irvine basketball players were recognized by the league's coaches as All-Conference selections Tuesday, highlighted by First Team All-Conference selection Michaela VanderKlugt being chosen as the PacWest Player of the Year.

Joining VanderKlugt on the women's squad were Jasmine Rachal (Second Team) and Katie Timmerman who made Third Team.  CUI's Joshua Caston also made Third Team on the men's side.

VanderKlugt made her fifth consecutive All-Conference Team which is a first for any women's basketball player. The graduate student recently became the first Concordia player to score 2,000 career points and collect 1,000 career rebounds.  She is the first Eagle to score 1,000 points in the NCAA DII era and recently won her 14th PacWest weekly award which is also the most-ever by a Concordia student-athlete. The Concord, Calif. native averaged a double-double this regular season with 18.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game while shooting 50 percent from the field.

VanderKlugt will finish her career as the school's leading rebounder and also the PacWest leader in career rebounds. Plus, she has a chance to break the all-time scoring record at Concordia if the Eagles advance in the postseason.  The Carondelet High School alum enters the conference tournament ranked second in school history with 2,103 points. Gitte Mejer holds the school record with 2,177 points, meaning VanderKlugt enters this week just 75 points away from breaking that mark.

Rachal became the second CUI women's basketball player to reach the 1,000 point milestone this season as well. The Brea Olinda High School product averaged 16.4 ppg, 3.5 apg and 2.8 rpg to form a solid 1-2 scoring punch with VanderKlugt.

Timmerman was named to the All-Conference squad for the second straight year. She scored 12.0 points per game and was an astounding 96 percent at the free throw line (46-for-48) in the regular season. She scored in double figures in 16 of her 24 starts and shot a career-best 39 percent from downtown.

Caston enters the postseason as CUI's leading scorer at 14.4 points per contest.  A graduate student from Virginia Beach who earned his undergraduate degree while playing at Point Loma, Caston has brought leadership, scoring and consistency to a squad that ended conference play with three clutch home victories.  The CUI men secured the No. 6 seed in the tournament After topping Holy Names on back-to-back nights and then stunning Azusa Pacific on Senior Night to prevent the Cougars from winning the regular season title.

Both CUI teams face Biola in the quarterfinals of the PacWest Conference Championships. The tournaments were expanded to include eight teams this year and are hosted by Fresno Pacific University.

Please Note that **MASKS ARE REQUIRED** for all guests if you plan to attend the conference tournament in Fresno for any games.

CLICK HERE to BUY TICKETS for the PacWest Conference Championships

The CUI men play Biola at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon in the very first game of the entire week.

CLICK HERE for the Men's Bracket and Updated Scores

The CUI women play at 5 p.m. on Thursday. If either team advances, the semifinals will be on Friday, March 4.

CLICK HERE for the Women's Bracket and Updated Scores

The CUI (17-9, 14-6 PacWest) women finished the regular season winners of 12 of their last 16 games and have a shot at reserving their first-ever appearance in the NCAA DII West Regional with a good showing in the conference tournament. The top eight teams in the west region make the postseason after the conference tournaments are completed with the PacWest, GNAC and CCAA tournament winners receiving automatic bids as three of those eight spots.