BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Led by five players scoring in double digits, the Western Washington University women's basketball team closed out the calendar year with a 77-60 victory over Stanislaus State Tuesday evening in the final game of the Viking Holiday Hoops Classic on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
The Vikings improved to 7-3 on the season and have won six of their last seven games. Stanislaus State dropped to 2-7 on the season.
Sophomore forward Kelsey Rogers (Bothell, WA/Lynnwood), junior guard Lexie Bland (Ellensburg, WA) and sophomore guard Gracie Castaneda (Arlington, WA) each scored 13 points to lead the Vikings in scoring. Bland added 6 assists and a career-high 8 rebounds to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Rogers fell just short of a double-double with 9 rebounds, also adding 2 blocks and 2 steals, to earn all-tournament honors as well.
Junior forward Anna Schwecke (Evergreen, CO/Clear Creek/Colorado-Colorado Springs) added 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks and freshman guard Avery Dykstra (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) tied her career-high 11 points. Sophomore guard Emma Duff (Tumwater, WA/Black Hills) had 6 points, 3 blocks and 9 rebounds.
The Vikings out-rebounded Stanislaus State 50-26 and recorded 20 assists. WWU's 45.8% field goal percentage was the second-best mark of the season, connecting 27-of-59 shots (8-for-21 3-pointers). Western was also 15-for-18 from the free throw line.
Angelica Baylon led Stanislaus State with 17 points to earn all-tournament honors.
"I thought tonight was a really good team effort and a lot of balance offensively with five players in double-digits. We shared the ball well. We played smart defense and rebounded the ball really well. It was a good way to end the non-conference season and now we are excited to get back onto GNAC play and keep improving."
REBOUNDING HIGHLIGHTS THIRD QUARTER
The Vikings grew the lead to 19 points at the end of the third quarter to lead the Warriors 61-42. The Vikings dominated the boards in the quarter with a 21-7 advantage, including a 6-0 edge in offensive rebounds. Emma Duff led the Vikings with 4 points and Avery Dykstra had 3 in the quarter.
HIGH-POWERED SECOND QUARTER
WWU and Stanislaus State combined to score 49 points in the second quarter, with the Vikings out-scoring the Warriors 28-21. Western grew its lead to as many as 18 points at 42-24 following a 3-pointer by Gracie Castaneda at the 2:28 mark. Stanislaus State closed the quarter on a 10-6 run to pull to within 14 points at the half. Kelsey Rogers and Lexie Bland each scored 7 points in the quarter, followed by 6 points from Castaneda. Overall the Vikings were 10-for-15 (66.7%) shooting in the quarter.
The Vikings raced out to a 10-2 lead to open the game and had a strong finish scoring the last four points to take a 20-13 lead after the first 10 minutes. Stanislaus State climbed to within three points at 16-13 after going on an 11-6 run, but Lexie Bland hit four straight free throws to give the Vikings the 7-point lead. Anna Schwecke (7 points) and Lexie Bland (6 points) lead the Vikings in scoring in the quarter.
VIKING HOLIDAY HOOPS CLASSIC
Lubbock Christian overcame a 5-point halftime deficit (38-33) to defeat Simon Fraser 70-64 in the first game on Tuesday to finish the Viking Holiday Hoops Classic with a 2-0 record. Bobbi Chitsey was 8-for-9 from the floor to finish with a game-high 26 points, while her sister Maddi scored 17 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Olivia Robertson finished with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double to take home tournament MVP honors. SFU was led by 15 points from Jessica Jones (5-for-11 FG/3FG) and 14 points from Tayler Drynan.
Kelsey Rogers, Western Washington
Lexie Bland, Western Washington
Angelica Baylon, Stanislaus State
Jessica Jones, Simon Fraser
Bobbie Chitsey, Lubbock Christian
Olivia Robertson, Lubbock Christian (MVP)
WWU's 77 points are tied for 2nd-most in a game this season…Avery Dykstra tied her career-high with 11 points scored…Lexie Bland set a career high with 8 rebounds and tied her career mark with 6 assists…Mollie Olson scored a career-high 5 points on 2-for-4 shooting in 18 minutes…reached 50 rebounds in a game for the third time this season.
The Vikings will take a break for the holidays and take their 2-0 GNAC record back into conference play with its annual road trip to Alaska, facing Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 3 and Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 5. Both games will feature live statistical updates and webcast via GNAC.tv.
|
WWU Box Score
|
FG
|
3-Pt
|
FT
|
Reb
|
|
|
##
|
Player
|
|
fgm-fga
|
fgm-fga
|
ftm-fta
|
off-def
|
tot
|
pf
|
tp
|
a
|
to
|
blk
|
stl
|
min
|
|
15
|
Rogers,Kelsey
|
f
|
5-8
|
0-0
|
3-4
|
3-6
|
9
|
2
|
13
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
29
|
|
44
|
Schwecke,Anna
|
c
|
4-5
|
0-0
|
3-4
|
2-4
|
6
|
1
|
11
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
25
|
|
3
|
Bland,Lexie
|
g
|
4-10
|
1-4
|
4-4
|
0-8
|
8
|
1
|
13
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
23
|
|
12
|
Duff,Emma
|
g
|
2-6
|
0-4
|
2-2
|
2-7
|
9
|
3
|
6
|
2
|
6
|
3
|
0
|
28
|
|
22
|
Castaneda,Gracie
|
g
|
5-9
|
3-4
|
0-0
|
1-0
|
1
|
1
|
13
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
23
|
|
1
|
Dykstra,Avery
|
-
|
3-8
|
2-5
|
3-4
|
0-1
|
1
|
2
|
11
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
19
|
|
13
|
Fierke,Monique
|
-
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
|
20
|
Gimmaka,Katrina
|
-
|
0-2
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
0-5
|
5
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
12
|
|
32
|
Olson,Mollie
|
-
|
2-4
|
1-2
|
0-0
|
0-1
|
1
|
2
|
5
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
18
|
|
33
|
Westendorf,Bobbi
|
-
|
2-7
|
1-2
|
0-0
|
4-4
|
8
|
1
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
14
|
|
Team Totals……………..
|
-
|
27-59
|
8-21
|
15-18
|
14-36
|
50
|
17
|
77
|
20
|
20
|
8
|
4
|
200
|
|
WWU Leader
|
45.8%
|
38.1%
|
83.3%
|
|
|
Score by Quarter
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
Total
|
|
Stanislaus State (2-7)
|
13
|
21
|
8
|
18
|
60
|
|
Western Washington (7-3)
|
20
|
28
|
13
|
16
|
77
|
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 throughWWUVikings.com/Live.
More information on the 2018-19 season, including a details schedule, roster and quick facts can be found online atWWUVikings.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 1,011 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 --
