Box Score

LACEY, Wash. -- Western Washington University junior guard Taylor Peacocke scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Vikings to a 66-45 victory over Saint Martin's Wednesday evening in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game at Marcus Pavilion.

With their ninth victory over the last 11 games the Vikings improved to 10-5 overall and 6-1 in GNAC play. Saint Martin's falls to 5-9 overall and 3-4 in conference play. The game was televised on ROOT SPORTS as the GNAC Game of the Week.

Peacock (Inglemoor, WA/Kenmore/Sacramento State) led all players with her 18 points (8-for-19 shooting), turning in an all-around game with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Junior forward Tia Briggs (Tacoma, WA/Wilson) contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds.

Senior center Kayla Bernsen (Moses Lake, WA) also had 8 rebounds, all in the second half, and recorded her 146th career blocked shot to move into a tie for 5th place in the WWU career record books. Junior guard Aleisha Hathaway (Spokane, WA/Shadle Park) and junior forward Kiana Gandy (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainier) each added 9 points.

The Vikings shot 48.3% from the field (28-for-58), including 55.6% in the second half (15-for-27). WWU had nine different players score in the game.

"I thought we played a complete game tonight and it started with our defense," said head coach Carmen Dolfo. "We had a lot of contributors tonight and really shared the ball."

GNAC leading scorer Krista Stabler led the Saints with 14 points, below her incoming season average of 18.5 points per game. Senior forward Megan Wiedeman turned in a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

WWU trailed early 5-0, but went on a 17-4 run to end the first quarter with a 17-9 lead. The Vikings held the Saints to only two free throws over the final 6:21 of the quarter. Briggs (6 points) and freshman Nikki Corbett (4 points) led Western in the opening quarter.

The Vikings held a 10-point lead at halftime 31-21, out-scoring SMU 14-12 in the second quarter. Peacocke led all players with 7 points in the quarter on 3-for-5 shooting. Stabler scored 8 of the Saints' 12 points in the quarter.

Western went on a 12-4 run late in the third quarter to build a 15-point lead at 46-32 to end the quarter. Peacocke again paced the WWU offense with 7 points.

WWU scored 9 quick points to open the fourth quarter building a 19-point lead at 55-36 and extended the lead to 21 points at 66-45. Gandy scored 7 of her 9 points in the final quarter and Bernsen tallied 5 rebounds.

The Vikings (10-5, 6-1 GNAC) return to action Saturday at Seattle Pacific (7:30 pm).