NAMPA, Idaho – Western Washington University senior center Anna Schwecke scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Vikings to a 94-83 road victory over Northwest Nazarene Saturday night in the Johnson Sports Center.

The Vikings shook off Thursday's 72-62 loss at Central Washington to defeat the second-place and defending GNAC champion Nighthawks behind a dominating second-half performance. WWU out-scored NNU 52-43 over the final two quarters, including a 26-18 advantage in the fourth quarter to snap a five-game losing streak vs. the Nighthawks.

WWU improved to 11-5 overall and remained in fourth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 5-3 league mark. NNU dropped to 11-5 overall and 6-2 in GNAC play.

Schwecke was 10-for-12 from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line in her career-high 29-point total. She added 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Adding to her 19-point effort in Thursday's game at CWU, Schwecke scored 48 points on 17-for-19 shooting in the two games.

Junior guard Emma Duff added a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double on 5-for-11 shooting and junior forward Kelsey Rogers contributed 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting. WWU's inside presence led to a 62-32 advantage in points in the paint and a 39-30 edge in rebounding.

Five Vikings totaled double-digits in points, with senior guard Lexie Bland adding 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting and sophomore forward Katrina Gimmaka chipping on 12 points off the bench. Sophomore guard Mollie Olson tied her career high with 9 assists and also had 3 steals.

Overall the Vikings shot 57.6% from the field (34-for-59) for the second-best shooting performance of the season and were 25-for-35 from the free throw line.

"I thought the team really shared the ball well and played really well together tonight," said WWU head coach Carmen Dolfo, while recording her 601^st career victory. "Anna had an incredible game and our players did a great getting our posts the ball."

In a game that featured 12 tie scored and 14 lead changes, it was the Vikings that put together the game-defining run in the fourth quarter. NNU led by as many as nine points near the end of the first quarter, but the Vikings battled back to out-score the Nighthawks 27-19 in the second quarter to lead 42-40 at the half.

NNU regained the lead at 72-70 following a 6-0 run with 7:34 remaining in regulation, but that's when WWU made its run going on a 9-2 run to take a 79-74 lead with 4:46 left in the contest. A pair of free throws by junior guard Gracie Castaneda with 4:27 remaining pulled WWU back ahead 81-77 after NNU cut the lead to two points, jump-starting a 15-3 game-defining run.

Leading 83-80 at the 3:03 mark, Schwecke scored six consecutive points to fuel a 11-0 run over a two-minute stretch to pull away en route to the 11-point victory.

The Nighthawks were led by 18 points on 5-for-10 shooting from Erin Jenkins, who connected on 3-of-5 3-point shots. McKenna Emerson added 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting and Marina Valles and Avery Albrecht each had 13 points. NNU shot 48.4% from the field (31-for-64) and were 8-for-21 from 3-point range. 

The Vikings battled back from a six-point deficit after the first quarter, 21-15, out-scoring the Nighthawks 27-19 in the second quarter to take a 42-40 halftime lead. Anna Schwecke led all players with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Emma Duff (9 points, 4-for-9 FG) and Lexie Bland (7 points, 3-for-4 FG) also had big first-half performances for the Vikings. WWU shot 52.9% from the field (18-for-34), while NNU also hit more than half of its shots at 51.5% (17-for-33).

The Vikings (11-5, 5-3 GNAC) return home next week to close out the first half of the GNAC schedule, hosting nationally-ranked Alaska Anchorage (18-1, 8-0 GNAC) on Thursday and Alaska Fairbanks (6-11, 1-7 GNAC) in Carver Gym. Both games feature a 7 pm tip-off on WECU Court in Carver Gym on the WWU campus.

WWU snapped a five-game losing streak vs. Northwest Nazarene, improving to 31-14 overall vs. the Nighthawks with a 12-8 record in Nampa.

Here is a look at the updated Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings through games played on Saturday. WWU is alone in 4^th place in the GNAC standings with a 5-3 league mark:

More information on WWU Basketball 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 11 seasons, and 34 times in the 48-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 with 601, win percentage and 20-win seasons. The Vikings have reached the NCAA II Tournament in 16 of 21 seasons at the Division II level with two trips to the Final Four. The program has 1,032 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.