BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The No. 6 seed Western Washington University women's basketball team defeated No. 3 seed Simon Fraser 72-69 on Thursday afternoon in a quarterfinal game of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on WECU Court in Carver Gym. 

The Vikings (17-12) advance to the semifinals where they will face No. 2 seed and No. 9 nationally-ranked Northwest Nazarene on Friday at 2:15 pm. No. 4 seed Central Washington defeated No. 5 Concordia 68-65 in the first quarterfinal game, and they will face No. 1 seed Alaska Anchorage in the noon game. WWU is serving as the host for the 2019 GNAC Men's and Women's Basketball Championships.

Playing as the away team in their home gym due to tournament seeding, the Vikings defeated the Clan for the third time this season while improving to 11-5 all-time in GNAC Championships play. WWU shot 49.0% for the game (24-for-49), while holding SFU to 37.1% (23-for-62) shooting.

Junior center Anna Schwecke led the Vikings with 19 points, also contributing 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots in 31 minutes. She was 5-for-10 from the field and 9-for-9 from the free throw game, while scoring 13 of her 19 points in the second half. In three games vs. SFU this season, Schwecke scored 69 points for a 23.0 points per game average.

Freshman guard Avery Dykstra scored a career-high 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting, while playing in 39 of the 40 minutes. Junior guard Lexie Bland also reached double-figures in scoring with 10 points and sophomore guard Emma Duff had 9 points and tied her career-high with 5 assists. 

WWU's balanced offensive performance featured seven players with 6-or-more points. Sophomore forward Kelsey Rogers led the Vikings with 6 rebounds. 

Simon Fraser was led by a game-high 20 points by sophomore guard Jessica Jones, who was 7-for-14 from the field and 3-for-7 from 3-point range before fouling out with 51-seconds remaining in the game. Samantha Beauchamp grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds, as SFU held a 34-32 advantage over the Vikings in rebounding.

The Vikings will take on No. 2 seed and No. 9 nationally-ranked Northwest Nazarene on Friday at 2:15 pm in the semifinal round of the GNAC Championships. No. 1 seed Alaska Anchorage will face Central Washington in the 12 pm game to open play on the second day of the 2019 GNAC Basketball Championships.

Following Katrina Gimmaka's 3-pointer near the end of the 3^rd quarter, the Vikings never trailed the rest of the game, growing the lead to as any as 8 points in the final quarter of play. SFU pulled to within 3 points at 70-67 following a three-point play by Sophie Swant at the 32.9 mark, but Anna Schwecke clinched the game with a pair of free throws. Schwecke scored 8 of her team-high 19 points in the final quarter, going 2-for-2 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

The Vikings scored the first basket of the second half to grow their lead to 15 points, but Simon Fraser went on a 17-0 run to take a 45-43 lead. A three-point play by Anna Schwecke at the 2:40 mark snapped WWU's scoreless streak and put the Vikings back ahead 46-45. WWU finished the quarter on an 8-2 run, with a Katrina Gimmaka 3-pointer proving key, to take a 51-47 lead into the final quarter. Schwecke led WWU with 5 points, while Jessica Jones scored 9 points, including 7 during the 17-0 run.

WWU put together a dominating second quarter, out-scoring SFU 24-8 to build a 13-point halftime lead at 41-28. The Vikings carried the momentum from the end of the first quarter into the second quarter, scoring the first four points and grabbed the lead at 23-22. Western pulled away from a 23-23 tie going on an 18-5 run to end the quarter, including an 11-0 run over the final 3:44. WWU used a balanced offensive attack, with eight different players scoring points. Emma Duff led the team with 5 points, with Anna Schwecke and Katrina Gimmaka each adding 4 points. WWU limited the Clan to 2-for-16 shooting and only 8 points in the quarter.

The Vikings trailed by as many as eight points in the first quarter, with SFU using a 10-2 run to pull ahead 20-12. The Vikings scored the final five points of the quarter to cut the deficit to three points at 20-17. Avery Dykstra led the Vikings with 9 points on 3-for-3 shooting and Jessica Jones of SFU had 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting.

WWU swept the three-game season series vs. Simon Fraser, winning 70-62 on Nov. 27 in Burnaby, and then 67-49 on Feb. 26 in Carver Gym…after today's 72-69 postseason win, WWU is 52-36 all-time vs. SFU while winning 9 of the last 10 meetings.

WWU is serving 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 is being held March 7-9 on WECU Court in Carver Gym.

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 1,021 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.