ONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Washington University women's basketball team picked up a big road win, defeating Western Oregon University 62-53 Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action in the New PE Gymnasium.
WWU won for the second consecutive game to improve to 12-9 overall and stands in 5th place in the GNAC with a 7-6 conference record. Coming off a big road win of its own last weekend at Central Washington, Western Oregon dropped to 7-12 overall and 4-9 in league play.
Sophomore guard Emma Duff led the Vikings with 16 points on 7-for-15 shooting, tallying 9 of her team-high points in the third quarter. Duff added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.
Freshman guard Avery Dykstra also reached double-figures in scoring with 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting and junior center Anna Schwecke had 11 points, with 10 coming in the first half.
The Vikings shot 44.2% from the field (23-for-52), including a blistering 59.3% (16-for-27) to build a 38-24 halftime lead.
Western Oregon fought back with a strong fourth quarter performance, cutting what was once a 21-point WWU lead down to 6 points at 57-51 with 32 seconds remaining in the game. The Vikings held off the rally going 5-for-6 at the free throw line down the stretch, including 4-for-4 by junior guard Lexie Bland. After the hot-shooting first half, WWU was limited to 28.0% in the second half (7-for-25), including 1-for-13 in the final quarter.
Natalie DeLonge led three Wolves in double-figures with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Keyonna Jones added 14 points (5-for-13 FG) and Oliva Denton had 10 points and 5 rebounds.
The Vikings return to action on Saturday taking on Concordia (10-11, 5-8) in Portland with a 2 pm tip-off from LCEF Court. The game can be followed via live webcast and statistical updates at GNAC.tv.
WWU improved to 53-10 all-time vs. the Wolves, recording the season sweep…the Vikings are 21-1 over the last 22 meetings dating back to the 2008-09 season.
|
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
|
1-4
|
0-0
|
1-2
|
0-3
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
17
|
|
44
|
Schwecke,Anna
|
c
|
5-9
|
0-0
|
1-2
|
4-0
|
4
|
3
|
11
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
4
|
32
|
|
01
|
Dykstra,Avery
|
g
|
4-5
|
1-2
|
2-2
|
0-0
|
0
|
3
|
11
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
18
|
|
03
|
Bland,Lexie
|
g
|
1-6
|
1-3
|
5-6
|
1-5
|
6
|
2
|
8
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
21
|
|
12
|
Duff,Emma
|
g
|
7-15
|
2-7
|
0-2
|
0-4
|
4
|
2
|
16
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
34
|
|
13
|
Fierke,Monique
|
-
|
1-1
|
1-1
|
0-0
|
0-1
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
9
|
|
20
|
Gimmaka,Katrina
|
-
|
1-3
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
0-3
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
13
|
|
22
|
Castaneda,Gracie
|
-
|
0-2
|
0-2
|
0-0
|
0-3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
19
|
|
32
|
Olson,Mollie
|
-
|
1-4
|
1-3
|
0-0
|
0-2
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
20
|
|
33
|
Westendorf,Bobbi
|
-
|
2-3
|
1-1
|
0-0
|
2-2
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
17
|
|
Team Totals……………………………
|
23-52
|
7-19
|
9-14
|
10-24
|
34
|
18
|
62
|
14
|
15
|
5
|
15
|
200
|
|
WWU Leader
|
44.2%
|
36.8%
|
64.3%
|
|
|
Score by Quarter
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
Total
|
|
Western Washington (12-9, 7-6)
|
22
|
16
|
15
|
9
|
62
|
|
Western Oregon (7-12, 4-9)
|
16
|
8
|
12
|
17
|
53
|
Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings through games completed on Thursday, with the Vikings in 5thplace:
|
GNAC STANDINGS
|
CONF
|
PCT
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
1.
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
12-1
|
.923
|
20-1
|
.952
|
10-0
|
8-1
|
2-0
|
Won 13
|
|
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
12-1
|
.923
|
20-1
|
.952
|
11-0
|
7-1
|
2-0
|
Won 3
|
|
3.
|
Simon Fraser
|
9-4
|
.692
|
13-7
|
.650
|
5-3
|
6-1
|
2-3
|
Won 1
|
|
4.
|
Central Washington
|
8-5
|
.615
|
13-7
|
.650
|
7-4
|
4-3
|
2-0
|
Won 2
|
|
5.
|
Western Washington
|
7-6
|
.538
|
12-9
|
.571
|
7-6
|
4-2
|
1-1
|
Won 2
|
|
6.
|
Montana State Billings
|
6-7
|
.462
|
10-9
|
.526
|
6-1
|
3-7
|
1-1
|
Won 2
|
|
|
Seattle Pacific
|
6-7
|
.462
|
7-13
|
.350
|
5-5
|
2-6
|
0-2
|
Lost 1
|
|
8.
|
Concordia
|
5-8
|
.385
|
10-11
|
.476
|
3-4
|
5-5
|
2-2
|
Lost 2
|
|
9.
|
Western Oregon
|
4-9
|
.308
|
7-12
|
.368
|
3-4
|
3-7
|
1-1
|
Lost 1
|
|
10.
|
Saint Martin's
|
3-10
|
.231
|
5-16
|
.238
|
2-6
|
3-7
|
0-3
|
Lost 2
|
|
11.
|
Alaska
|
0-14
|
.000
|
3-17
|
.150
|
0-8
|
1-8
|
2-1
|
Lost 17
|
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 1,017 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 --
