BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Led by a monster 26-point, 19-rebound from junior center Anna Schwecke and a stout defensive effort, the Western Washington University women's basketball team recorded a 67-49 victory over Simon Fraser University Tuesday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on WECU Court in Carver Gym.

 

With the win, the Vikings clinched one of the six spots for the GNAC Championships that will be played March 7-9 in Carver Gym. WWU earned the series sweep over the Clan with the 18-point victory, improving to 15-12 overall and 10-9 in conference play. SFU, which had won 11 of its last 13 coming into the game, remains in third place in the conference at 13-6 in GNAC play and 17-9 overall.

 

"I thought we did a great job on defense tonight, applying a lot of pressure on their shooters," said 28^th-year head coach Carmen Dolfo, who returned to the sidelines after missing the last two games with appendicitis. "It was a good win to clinch a spot in the GNAC Championships. I am proud of how resilient this team has been."

 

Schwecke (Evergreen, CO/Clear Creek/Colorado-Colorado Springs) has a knack for the big game when facing SFU, recording her third career 20-point game vs. the Clan. Schwecke set a GNAC high for this season in rebounds with 19, just missing the 14^th 20-rebound game in conference history. Schwecke was 13-for-17 from the field in 35 minutes of action, falling two points short of her career-high of 28 points set at SFU last season. In four career games vs. Simon Fraser, Schwecke has scored 89 points (22.5 ppg) and grabbed 55 rebounds (13.8 rpg). 

 

"Anna was amazing tonight…with the guards doing a great job of finding her down low and she did a fantastic job finishing around the basket," added Dolfo on her junior center. "We stuck to our game plan of moving the ball around and getting Anna the ball and got great results."

 

Sophomore guard Emma Duff (Tumwater, WA/Black Hills) reached double-figures in scoring again with 11 points, marking the ninth time in the last 11 games to score 10 or more points.

 

Sophomore guard Gracie Castaneda (Arlington, WA) added 7 points and 2 assists and sophomore forward Kelsey Rogers (Bothell, WA/Lynnwood) had 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 20 minutes.

 

WWU shot 47.5% for the game, connecting on 28-of-59 shots and had a balanced scoring attack with seven players scoring 5-or-more points. Western dominated the boards 45-28 and out-scored SFU in the paint 48-18.

 

SFU was led by 16 points off the bench from Claudia Hart, who was 6-for-9 shooting and 2-for-2 from 3-point range. Leading scorer Sophie Swant was held to 6 points on 2-for-10 shooting and was disqualified from the game early in the fourth quarter after what the officials considered a "severe" foul. SFU came into the game averaging nearly 10 3-pointers a game, but was held to 6-for-26 shooting from beyond the arc and a season-low 26.7% (16-for-60) overall from the floor.

 

WWU has clinched one of the six spots in the 2018-19 GNAC Women's Basketball Championships that will be played March 7-9 in Carver Gym. Final tournament seeding and brackets will be announced following Saturday's regular-season finales (WWU plays its last game on Thursday). This marks the eighth time in the nine-year history of the championships that WWU has made the postseason conference tournament, winning in back-to-back years in 2013-14.

 

Anna Schwecke has recorded four games with 20-or-more points in her career, with three of those coming against Simon Fraser. In her four career games vs. SFU, Schwecke has totaled 89 points (22.5 points/game), 55 rebounds (13.8 rebounds/game) and is shooting 73.7% (42-for-57). Earlier this year she scored 24 points with 12 rebounds, after scoring a career-high 28 points at SFU last season.

 

Prior to the game, senior guard Bobbi Westendorf (Auburn, WA/Tacoma CC) and student-assistant coachAmanda Lance (Buckley, WA/White River) were honored for their contributions to the program. Westendorf is likely out for the season after suffering a knee injury. Lance played three seasons for the Vikings (2015-18) before joining the coaching staff this season.

 

Anna Schwecke recorded her sixth double-double of the season, tied for 4^th-most in the GNAC this season…Schwecke took over the team lead in scoring at 12.3 points per game and upped her rebound average to 58.2% (135-for-232) to lead the conference…WWU led for 25:17, SFU held a lead for 10:53 and the game was tied for 3:50…WWU's 47.5% field goal percentage was 5^th-highest this season…Lexie Bland and Emma Duff each had 5 assists for the Vikings…WWU improved to 10-9 at home this season and now have 476 all-time wins in Carver Gym (476-96/.842).

 

The Vikings concluded a dominating second half out-scoring SFU 18-10 in the final quarter, going on a 12-5 run to close out the 18-point victory. Anna Schwecke closed out her big double-double with 4 points and 4 rebounds in the quarter.

 

The Vikings out-scored the Clan 19-7 in the third quarter, led by a 17-5 run that turned a two-point deficit at 34-32 into a 10-point lead at 49-39. WWU was 9-for-18 from the field in the quarter, led by 6 points from Anna Schwecke and 5 points from freshman Mollie Olson. SFU was limited to 2-for-18 shooting in the quarter, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

 

Despite going over seven minutes without a point from the end of the first quarter until the six-minute mark of the second quarter, the Vikings battled back ton only trail 32-30 at the half. SFU out-scored the Vikings 12-10 in the low-scoring quarter, with the Vikings briefly holding a one-point lead at 28-27 with 1:43 remaining in the half. SFU ended on a 5-2 run to take a two-point lead into halftime. Anna Schwecke continued her solid play with 6 points on 3-for-4 shooting, giving her a game-high 16 points at the half.

 

WWU held a 10-point lead at 16-6 with 3:22 remaining in the quarter, but SFU went on a 16-2 run to end the quarter and take a 22-18. The Vikings were 8-for-15 from the field (53.3%), while the Clan countered shooting 8-for-16 (50.0%). During the extended run SFU was 5-for-6 from the field, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range.Anna Schwecke led all players with 10 points and 4 rebounds in the quarter, while Georgia Swant fueled SFU's run with 8 points and a pair of 3-pointers.

 

WWU improved to 51-36 all-time vs. Simon Fraser, winning 8 of the last 9 meetings. Clinched the series sweep over SFU also winning in Burnaby, BC 70-62 on Nov. 27 in the GNAC opener for both teams.

 

The Vikings close out the 2018-19 regular season on Thursday with a road game at Montana State Billings. The game vs. the Yellowjackets will tip-off at 7 pm MT/6 pm PT in Alterowitz Gym and can be followed via a live webcast and statistical updates available at GNAC.tv.

 

 

 

 

Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings through games completed on Tuesday, with the Vikings in 5^thplace in the conference and have secured one of the six spots in 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 Tuesday:

 

 

WWU will serve as the host for the 2019 GNAC Basketball 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. Tickets are now on sale for the GNAC Basketball Championships via GNACHoopTickets.com.

 

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 1,020 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 --