BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's basketball team had its five-game winning streak snapped Monday night, falling to Lubbock Christian University 67-54 to conclude the first day of the 2018 Viking Holiday Hoops Classic on WECU Court in Carver Gym.

WWU (6-3) returned to the court after a 15-day break for final exams and couldn't knock off the 2016 NCAA Division II national champions to have its winning streak snapped. Lubbock Christian improved to 8-4 on the season, snapping its two-game losing streak. The 2018 Elite 8 participants and preseason No. 10 nationally-ranked Lady Chaparrals had dropped three of its last four games after opening the season 6-1.

The Vikings made a valiant comeback attempt, pulling to within two points at 51-49 with 6:13 remaining in the game after trailing by 9 points at 49-40 heading into the fourth quarter. LCU received two key three-pointers from leading scorer Olivia Robertson, and ended the game on an 8-0 run for the 13-point victory.

WWU sophomore forward Kelsey Rogers (Bothell, WA/Lynnwood) led the Vikings with 14 points, connecting on 6-of-7 shots from the field. She also grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds and had one blocked shot. Junior post Anna Schwecke (Evergreen, CO/Clear Creek/Colorado-Colorado Springs) added 9 points on 3-for-5 shooting and sophomore guard Emma Duff (Tumwater, WA/Black Hills) had 8 points on 3-for-10 shooting (2-for-7 3FG).

The Vikings shot 45.5% from the floor, compared to Lubbock Christian's 38.7 mark (24-for-62), but were out-rebounded for the first time this season. WWU also committed a season-high 27 turnovers.

The Lady Chaparrals were led by a game-high 23 points from Robertson, who scored 19 points in the second half and 12 in the fourth quarter. The senior was 7-for-15 from the floor (2-for-2 3FG) and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

After opening the game with turnovers on the first three possessions, the Vikings settled in and battled back from an 8-3 deficit to take a 13-12 lead through the first quarter. Kelsey Rogers led the Vikings with 4 points going 2-for-2 from the field. WWU ended the quarter on a 6-2 run over the final 2:32 of the quarter. Offsetting the 8 turnovers for the Vikings was 5-for-8 accuracy from the field shooting 62.5% in the opening quarter. 

Lubbock Christian started an 8-0 run with three-point play by senior forward Bobbi Chitsey at the 3:14 mark, pulling away from a 24-24 game to build a 32-24 lead. The Vikings answered with a 5-0 run to pull to within three points at 32-29. Emma Duff hit a last-second 3-pointer to cut the Lady Chaparrals lead to three points.Avery Dykstra led the Vikings with 5 points in the quarter, shooting 58.3% from the field (7-for-12).

The Lady Chaparrals opened the third quarter going on a 9-2 run, and built a 13-point lead at 49-36 with 2:27 remaining in the quarter. The Vikings ended the quarter on a 4-0 run to close the gap to 9 points at 49-40 heading into the final quarter. Gracie Castaneda led the Vikings by scoring 7 of WWU's 11 points in the quarter.

Stanislaus State opened the 2018 Viking Holiday Hoops Classic with a 75-63 victory over Simon Fraser. Alexus Kelly and Caitlin Keding led the Warriors with 16 points apiece, as four Stanislaus State players reached double-figures in scoring. The game was tied 40-40 at the half and was a one-point game at 55-54 at the end of the third quarter, but the Warriors ended the game out-scoring the Clan 20-9 in the final quarter. Jessica Jones led SFU with 17 points, going 5-for-12 from 3-point range. SFU attempted 35 3-pointers, connecting on 13 from beyond the arc (37.1%).

Freshman guard Avery Dykstra made her first career start…freshman guard Monique Fierke (Monroe, WA) made her collegiate debut for the Vikings…this was the first meeting between WWU and Lubbock Christian…LCU was the 2016 NCAA Division II National Champions and was the preseason No. 10 team in the nation after advancing to the Elite 8 last season. 

The Vikings close out the non-conference portion of their schedule on Tuesday playing Stanislaus State (2-6) in the final game of the Viking Holiday Hoops Classic. WWU returns to conference play with its annual road trip to Alaska, facing Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 3 and Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 5.

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 1,010 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 --