BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University junior center Anna Schwecke recorded a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double to help lift the Vikings to a defense-dominated 66-50 victory over Saint Martin's University Thursday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on WECU Court in Carver Gym.

 

The Vikings improved to 13-10 overall and remained in 5^th place in the GNAC with an 8-7 record. WWU has now won three of their last four games. Saint Martin's lots its fourth consecutive game to fall to 5-18 overall and 3-12 in conference play. 

 

Western put together one of its trademark dominating defensive performances, holding the Saints to 11-for-49 (22.4%) shooting from the floor, including 6-for-39 (15.4%) over the final three quarters. The Vikings out-rebounded the Saints 40-29, while also tallying 9 steals and 6 blocked shots. 

 

"I thought tonight was a really good defensive performance, and putting that pressure on them allowed us to get going on offense," said head coach Carmen Dolfo, who recorded her 586^th career victory. "Anna (Schwecke) was great on the boards and had a nice double-double. And I thought our guards did a nice job of being aggressive to the basket and that opened up some scoring opportunities."

 

Schwecke (Evergreen, CO/Clear Creek/Colorado-Colorado Springs) was 6-for-6 from the field and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.

 

Junior guard Lexie Bland (Ellensburg, WA) added 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, and freshman guardMollie Olson (Napavine, WA) reached double-digits with 10 points and contributed 3 steals.

 

WWU's balanced offensive effort had six players with at least 6 points, including 9 from freshman guard Avery Dykstra (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian). Overall the Vikings shot 50.9% from the field (27-for-57).

 

Saint Martin's scored half of its points at the free throw line, going 25-for-30 from the charity stripe. Freshman forward Claire Dingus led all players with a game-high 20 points. Dingus was 3-for-9 from the field and 14-for-16 from the free throw line. 

 

WWU trailed by 5 points 23-18 following a 3-pointer by SMU's Makenna Shultz at the 6:48 mark, but from that point forward the Vikings went on a 16-1 to take a 34-24 lead into halftime. Lexie Bland, Avery Dykstra and Gracie Castaneda scored 4 points apiece to fuel the extended rally turning the 5-point deficit into a 10-point lead. WWU out-scored the Saints 21-8 in the quarter, limiting SMU to 3-for-17 shooting (17.6%). WWU shot 55.6% (10-for-18) and out-rebounded SMU 15-8.

 

Western out-scored Saint Martin's 21-11 in the third quarter, ending on a 8-1 run to extend the lead to 20 points at 55-35. SMU was limited to 1-for-10 shooting in the quarter, scoring 8 of 11 points at the free throw line. Mollie Olson led the Vikings with 7 points on 2-for-2 shooting from the field and was 2-for-2 from the free throw line. The Vikings were 8-for-12 (66.7%) in the quarter.

 

Saint Martin's used a 9-2 run to pull to within 14 points, but would not get any closer in the 16-point defeat. SMU out-scored the Vikings 15-11 in the final quarter while going 10-for-10 from the free throw line.

 

Western held Saint Martin's without a field goal over a 14-minute stretch spanning the second and third quarter. Following a 3-pointer at the 6:48 mark in the second quarter, the Saints were limited to just 8 points (all free throws) until the 2:43 mark in the third quarter.

 

The Vikings trailed 16-13 after the first quarter of play, with Saint Martin's out-shooting WWU 50.0% (5-for-10) to 33.3% (5-for-15). The Vikings controlled the boards 8-6, with a 5-1 advantage in offensive rebounds. Mollie Olson, Emma Duff and Anna Schwecke each had three points to lead the Vikings. Claire Dingus led all players with 6 points on 1-for-3 shooting and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

 

WWU sophomore Gracie Castaneda and SMU junior Jayla Russ were high school teammates at Arlington High School…Bobbi Westendorf was coached by SMU head coach Christy Martin in her two seasons at Tacoma Community College…Emma Duff celebrated her birthday with 7 points and 4 rebounds…Bobbi Westendorf made her third start this season and fifth of her career…Kelsey Rogers, WWU's leading scorer, did not start due to illness, but subbed into the game at the 8:47 mark in the first quarter.

 

The Vikings remain at home hosting Seattle Pacific (7-15, 6-9) on Saturday at 7 pm in Carver Gym. Tip-off vs. the Falcons is set for 7 pm on WECU Court, with the box office open at 6 pm for ticket sales. A shuttle from South Campus (C and 12A parking lots) to Carver Gym will start at 6 pm.

 

WWU recorded the season sweep over the Saints, also winning 75-67 in Lacey on Jan. 19…the Vikings now lead the all-time series 72-10 with a current 24-game winning streak (since 2/21/08)…going back to 1998, the Vikings are 43-1 vs. the Saints.

 

 

 

 

Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings through games completed on Thursday, with the Vikings in 5^thplace…the top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the season will qualify for the GNAC Championships held March 7-9 in Carver Gym.

 

 

Here are the scores from the four additional GNAC games played across the conference footprint on Thursday:

 

 

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 1,018 all-time wins in the 48-year history of the program, and according to available records, is one of just 16 women's college basketball team across all divisions and levels to reach the milestone.

 

-- @WWUWBB --