BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University sophomore forward Kelsey Rogers scored 21 of her game-high 23 points to lead the Vikings to another come-from-behind victory, defeating Minnesota Crookston 78-68 on Saturday evening on WECU Court in Carver Gym.

The Vikings won their third consecutive game to improve to 4-2 on the season, ending the Lynda Goodrich Classic with a perfect 2-0 record. WWU defeated the previously unbeaten Golden Eagles (5-1) with a 44-point second-half to overcome a 4-point halftime deficit.

Rogers (Bothell, WA/Lynnwood), continued her solid play of late that earned her GNAC Player of the Week honors with her third 20-point performance of the season. The sophomore was 10-for-12 from the field and added 8 rebounds. Her big second half earned her a spot on the Lynda Goodrich Classic All-Tournament team.

Junior center Anna Schwecke (Evergreen, CO/Clear Creek/Colorado-Colo. Springs) was also selected to the All-Tournament team after her 15-point, 8-rebound performance on Saturday. In two tournament games Schwecke scored 30 points with 17 rebounds to also earn tournament MVP honors.

Junior guard Dani Iwami (Seal Beach, CA/Los Alamitos/Hawai'i Pacific) added 11 points (4-9 FG) and recorded a season-high 7 assists. Sophomore guard Gracie Castaneda (Arlington, WA) was 4-for-7 from the floor to record a season-high 10 points.

The Golden Eagles were led by 19 points from senior guard Caitlin Michaelis and 16 points from senior forward Isieoma Odor. Both players were named to the Lynda Goodrich Classic All-Tournament Team.

"I thought we were really clicking in the third quarter, with Avery (Dykstra) playing lockdown defense and Kelsey (Rogers) really finding her groove. Our guards (Dani Iwami, Avery Dykstra, Lexie Bland) did a great job of sharing the ball and going with what was working, which was our post play. I thought we had a great weekend against some good teams and looking forward to opening GNC play this week," said WWU 28^th-year head coach Carmen Dolfo. 

Each of WWU's four wins this season have been come-from-behind wins. A day after overcoming a 9-point fourth-quarter deficit in a 73-72 win over the University of Mary, the Vikings erased a 4-point halftime deficit in Saturday's victory. The Vikings out-scored Minnesota Crookston 44-30 in the second half while combining to shoot 53.6% (15-fo-28).

Sparked by 14 points from Rogers on 7-for-7 shooting, the Vikings out-scored the Golden Eagles 24-12 in the third quarter to regain the lead at 58-50 heading into the final 10 minutes. Overall WWU shot 58.8% in the third quarter (10-for-17). Freshman forward Katrina Gimmaka (Everson, WA/Nooksack Valley) scored 4 of her game total 8 points in the quarter for the Vikings.

The Vikings raced out to a 20-12 lead through the first quarter, using a 13-4 run over the final 4 minutes to build the 8-point lead. Castaneda, who started the 13-4 run with a 3-pointer, and Schwecke each had 5 points for the Vikings.

WWU was out-scored by the Golden Eagles 26-14 in the second quarter, which erased WWU's 8-point lead following the first quarter of play. UMC went on a 11-0 run midway through the quarter to turn a 29-21 deficit into a 32-29 lead. During this 3:16 stretch Crookston was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, while the Vikings were 0-for-4. Iwami broke the run with a 3-pointer at the 2:36 mark to level the game at 32-32, but UMC finished on a 6-2 run to take a 38-34 lead into halftime. Castaneda added 5 more points to hit double-digits heading into halftime.

The Vikings (4-2) open up Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on Tuesday with a road game at Simon Fraser (4-1) in Burnaby, BC. The game will tip-off at 7 pm in West Gym with a live webcast and statistical updates via GNAC.tv. WWU hosts Montana State Billings on Saturday in Carver Gym at 7 pm to complete the opening week of conference play.

WWU will serve as the host for the 2019 GNAC Championships, with the top six teams in both the men's and women's conference standings at the end of the season qualifying for the tournament that will be held March 7-9 on WECU Court in Carver Gym. 

If you can't make it to Carver Gym to watch the home games in person, you can tune in to VikingsTV to catch all the action…all GNAC matches, home and road, will stream live and feature live stats at GNAC.tv, with home games also streamed live on YouTube…in addition to being available online, all conference matches are available via the GNAC channel on Roku, Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV…live links can be accessed through WWUVikings.com/Live.

More information on the 2018-19 season, including a details schedule, roster and quick facts can be found online at WWUVikings.com/WBB and via social media on Twitter (@WWUBasketball), Instagram (@wwu.basketball) and Facebook (@WWUwomensbball).

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in seven of the last nine seasons, and 34 times in the 47-year history of the program. WWU has 20 seasons of 20 or more wins under head coach Carmen Dolfo, who is the winningest coach of any sport at WWU and ranks among Division II active and all-time coaching leaders in wins, win percentage and 20-win seasons. The Vikings have reached the NCAA II Tournament in 16 of 20 seasons at the Division II level with two trips to the Final Four. The program has 1,009 all-time wins in the 47-year history of the program, and according to available records, is the 15th women's college basketball team across all divisions and levels to reach the milestone.

-- @WWUWBB --