Box Score | Game Book

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Western Washington University women's basketball team used a dominating fourth quarter to pull away from a back-and-forth game in a 84-73 victory over Northwest Nazarene Saturday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at Whatcom Pavilion.

The Vikings, ranked No. 25 in the WBCA poll and No. 13 in the D2SIDA media poll, recorded their 13th consecutive victory, tied for 9th-longest in program history, by improving to 19-3 overall and 13-1 in GNAC play. WWU remains in 2nd place in the GNAC, one game back of Alaska Anchorage (21-1, 14-0 GNAC). Northwest Nazarene drops to 8-12 overall and 6-8 in conference play.

"NNU is a great driving team and we had trouble defending that tonight," said head coach Carmen Dolfo, who has her team one win away from another 20-win season. "Taylor had a big game for us and we were able to pick it up down the stretch."

The Vikings and Crusaders were locked in a close game with WWU holding a one point lead at 63-62 with 8:04 remaining in the game. Western pulled away going on an 11-4 run to build a 74-66 lead, and ended the game on a 21-11 run to record the 11-point victory.

Senior guard Taylor Peacocke (Kenmore, WA/Inglemoor) scored a game-high 28 points on 9-for-15 shooting, maintaining her NCAA Division II scoring lead with 22.8 points per game. Additionally, Peacocke was 4-for-6 from 3-point range and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line while moving into 4th place in the GNAC record books with 1,697 career points.

"She (Taylor) was money tonight," said Dolfo on her senior guard. "She has been struggling with some sickness, but she did a great job lifting us up tonight by making some big baskets."

Senior forward Kiana Gandy (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainier) contributed 16 points and 5 rebounds, and senior center Tia Briggs (Tacoma, WA/Wilson) added 13 points and a team-high 6 rebounds.

Senior guard Aleisha Hathaway (Spokane, WA/Shadle Park) was 3-for-4 from 3-point range scoring 9 points, and junior forward Hannah Stipanovich (St. Louis, MO/Metro State) added 8 points in 13 minutes of action.

The Crusaders were led by a 21-point performance from junior guard Ellie Logan and 19 points out of junior guard Lexi Tubbs (8-for-12 FG). NNU shot 52.5% from the field (31-for-59), the first team to shoot above 50% against the Vikings this season.

The Vikings built and 8-point halftime lead at 46-38 behind 21 points from Peacocke. The senior was 7-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc overall in the first half, and had 15 points in the opening quarter. The first half featured 5 tie scores, with Western pulling away from a 28-28 tie by going on an 18-10 run to end the half.

NNU cut into WWU's lead out-scoring the Vikings 20-15 in the third quarter to pull to within 3 points at 61-58. The Crusaders went on a 10-3 run late in the third quarter to pull to within 2 points at 54-52. A 7-0 run extended WWU's lead to 61-52, but the Crusaders fought back to score the final 6 points of the quarter.

WWU went on an 11-3 run over a three and a half minute stretch to take a 74-66 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Vikings then pulled away from a 70-66 game by out-scoring the Crusaders 14-7 over the final 5:31. Peacocke was held to 7 points in the second half, as the Vikings were led by the 10 points from Gandy (3-for-5 FG).

WWU returns to the road next week facing Seattle Pacific (Thursday, 7:30 pm) and Saint Martin's (Saturday, 5:15 pm).

GAME NOTES: The 13-game winning streak is tied for 9th-longest in program history and longest since a 19-game win streak Dec. 11, 2010-Feb. 22, 2011...Taylor Peacocke has scored 25-or-more points in 11 of 22 games this season...Peacocke moved into 4th place in GNAC history with 1,697 points, passing Rose Shaw (CWU, 1,696, 1998-02)...Aleisha Hathaway was 6-for-8 in 3-point field goals in WWU's wins during the week over Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene...WWU is shooting 80.9% from the free throw line for the season (395-for-488) after going 23-for-28 vs. NNU...Kiana Gandy was 8-for-8 from the free throw line vs. NNU and is 52-for-57 (91.2%) from the charity stripe for the season.

-- @WWUWBB--