BILLINGS, Mont. – The Western Washington University women's basketball team closed out the regular season with a 53-48 road victory over Montana State Billings Thursday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
The Vikings improved to 16-12 overall and finished conference play with an 11-9 record. Western will finish amongst the top six teams in the conference, advancing to the GNAC Championships that will be played March 7-9 in Bellingham with WWU serving as the tournament host.
WWU overcame a cold shooting night (31.3%) by turning in a solid defensive effort, allowing only 20 second-half points. The Vikings trailed 28-27 at the half, but came out strong in the third quarter allowing 3 points to the Yellowjackets to build a 37-31 lead.
MSUB pulled even at 39-39 early in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings pulled away late going 8-for-9 from the free throw line to record the five-point victory.
Freshman forward Katrina Gimmaka (Everson, WA/Nooksack Valley) recorded her first career double-double, totaling 11 points and 12 rebounds. Gimmaka was 2-for-5 shooting, including the go-ahead 3-pointer at the 5:47 mark in the fourth quarter to break the 39-39 tie.
Junior Kelsey Rogers (Bothell, WA/Lynnwood) led the Vikings with 13 points, going 7-for-8 from the free throw line (6-for-6 in the 4th quarter). Freshman guard Avery Dykstra (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) equaled her career-high with 6 assists and set a career-high with 6 rebounds.
WWU again held its opponent to a low shooting percentage, with MSUB at 26.7% (16-for-60), coming after the Vikings held Simon Fraser to the same mark on Tuesday night in a 67-49 victory.
Taylor Cunningham led MSUB with 11 points on 5-for-14 shooting and Taryn Shelley contributed 10 points. The Yellowjackets dropped to 11-14 on the season and 7-12 in GNAC play.
MSUB out-scored WWU 17-16 in the final quarter, but WWU was 8-for-9 from the free throw line to seal the five-point victory. Rogers scored 6 of her team-high 13 points in the final quarter, all from the free throw line.
The Vikings allowed only three points in the third quarter, out-scoring the Yellowjackets 10-3 to take a 37-31 lead into the final quarter of play. WWU scored the first four points of the quarter to grab a 31-28 lead, and then finished on a 6-1 run. The three points allowed were the second-fewest permitted by the Vikings in the four seasons of the quarter system for women's collegiate basketball, trailing only two points surrendered to Fresno Pacific in the 2nd quarter on Nov. 12, 2016.
MSUB quickly erased its 9-point deficit, going on a 9-0 run to open the second quarter. The Vikings had only one field goal in the first 7:30 of the quarter, a 3-pointer by Lexie Bland, and trailed by six points 28-22. WWU finished the quarter on a 5-0 run, with a 3-pointer by Mollie Olson pulling the Vikings to within one point at 28-27 heading into the half. After starting 6-for-8 from the field, WWU was 2-for-14 in the second quarter.
The Vikings built an 8-point lead at 19-11 through the first quarter, shooting 6-for-8 from the floor in the first 10 minutes of play. After falling behind 7-4, the Vikings ended the quarter on a 15-4 run to build the lead. Kelsey Rogers led the Vikings with 7 points on 3-for-4 shooting, while Taryn Shelley had 5 points for the Yellowjackets.
WWU earned the series sweep over the Yellowjackets, a team that advanced to the NCAA II Elite 8 a year ago…the Vikings lead the all-time series 24-16 and is now 9-9 all-time in Alterowitz Gym.
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 onGNACSports.com 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.
The Vikings will play next Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 2019 GNAC Championships in Carver Gym on the WWU campus. The brackets and tournament schedule will be announced Saturday evening following the conclusion of all games on.
|
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
|
3-11
|
0-0
|
7-8
|
0-1
|
1
|
3
|
13
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
26
|
|
44
|
Schwecke,Anna
|
c
|
0-4
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
2-4
|
6
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
8
|
0
|
3
|
25
|
|
01
|
Dykstra,Avery
|
g
|
1-2
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
1-5
|
6
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
34
|
|
03
|
Bland,Lexie
|
g
|
2-6
|
1-4
|
3-4
|
0-1
|
1
|
5
|
8
|
2
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
26
|
|
12
|
Duff,Emma
|
g
|
3-8
|
2-4
|
0-0
|
2-3
|
5
|
3
|
8
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
25
|
|
20
|
Gimmaka,Katrina
|
-
|
2-5
|
1-2
|
6-7
|
2-10
|
12
|
1
|
11
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
23
|
|
22
|
Castaneda,Gracie
|
-
|
1-4
|
0-2
|
1-2
|
0-2
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
18
|
|
32
|
Olson,Mollie
|
-
|
3-8
|
2-4
|
0-2
|
1-2
|
3
|
2
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
23
|
|
|
15-48
|
6-16
|
17-23
|
10-33
|
43
|
22
|
53
|
10
|
25
|
2
|
6
|
200
|
|
WWU Leader
|
31.3%
|
37.5%
|
73.9%
|
|
|
Score by Quarter
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
Total
|
|
Western Washington (16-12, 11-9)
|
19
|
8
|
10
|
16
|
53
|
|
Montana St. Billings (11-14, 7-12)
|
11
|
17
|
3
|
17
|
48
|
Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings through games completed on Thursday, with the Vikings in 5thplace in the conference and have secured one of the six spots in the GNAC Championships held March 7-9 in Carver Gym.
|
GNAC STANDINGS
|
CONF
|
PCT
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
1.
|
Alaska Anchorage*+
|
18-1
|
.947
|
26-1
|
.963
|
13-0
|
11-1
|
2-0
|
Won 19
|
|
2.
|
Northwest Nazarene*
|
17-2
|
.895
|
25-2
|
.926
|
14-0
|
9-2
|
2-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
3.
|
Simon Fraser*
|
13-6
|
.684
|
17-9
|
.654
|
7-3
|
8-3
|
2-3
|
Lost 1
|
|
4.
|
Central Washington*
|
12-7
|
.632
|
17-9
|
.654
|
8-5
|
7-4
|
2-0
|
Won 1
|
|
5.
|
Western Washington*
|
11-9
|
.550
|
16-12
|
.571
|
10-6
|
5-5
|
1-1
|
Won 2
|
|
6.
|
Concordia*
|
10-9
|
.526
|
15-12
|
.556
|
6-4
|
7-6
|
2-2
|
Won 4
|
|
7.
|
Montana State Billings
|
7-12
|
.368
|
11-14
|
.440
|
6-5
|
4-8
|
1-1
|
Lost 2
|
|
|
Seattle Pacific
|
7-12
|
.368
|
8-18
|
.308
|
6-7
|
2-9
|
0-2
|
Lost 1
|
|
9.
|
Western Oregon
|
5-14
|
.263
|
8-17
|
.320
|
4-7
|
3-9
|
1-1
|
Won 1
|
|
10.
|
Saint Martin's
|
4-15
|
.211
|
6-21
|
.222
|
3-8
|
3-10
|
0-3
|
Lost 2
|
|
11.
|
Alaska
|
1-18
|
.053
|
4-21
|
.160
|
1-10
|
1-10
|
2-1
|
Lost 4
|
|
* Qualified for GNAC Championships, + clinched share of GNAC regular season championship
Top 6 in standings advance to conference tournament March 7-9 in Bellingham
|
Here are the scores from the four additional GNAC games played across the conference footprint on Thursday:
|
Around the GNAC (2/28/19)
|
|
Western Washington
|
53
|
Montana St. Billings
|
48
|
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
64
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
55
|
|
Western Oregon
|
60
|
Seattle Pacific
|
53
|
|
Concordia
|
85
|
Saint Martin's
|
81
|
|
Central Washington
|
77
|
Alaska Fairbanks
|
55
|
|
Home team in bold
|
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.
