SEATTLE, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's basketball team battled through tough wins in quarterfinal and semifinal games, but couldn't overcome No. 5 nationally-ranked Alaska Anchorage in Saturday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship Game in Royal Brougham Pavilion.
Alaska Anchorage (31-2) scored at least 20 points in all four quarter for the 89-68 victory over the Vikings to sweep the 2019-20 GNAC regular-season and tournament championships.
WWU is 22-9 overall and will wait for the announcement of the NCAA Division II Championships announcement Sunday night at 7 pm on NCAA.com. WWU was ranked No. 7 in the West Region heading into the conference tournament, and bolstered their postseason resume with wins over Montana State Billings and Northwest Nazarene.
Junior forward Kelsey Rogers led the Vikings with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting, finishing the three-game tournament with 46 points. Senior guard Lexie Bland contributed 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting and a team-high 5 assists. Junior guard Maddison Coleman gave the Vikings a spark off the bench with 10 points in 12 minutes, connecting on 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
The Vikings shot 51.1% from the field (24-for-47), but were limited to nine fewer shots than the Seawolves. WWU turned the ball over 23 times, with UAA scoring 32 points off the turnovers.
GNAC Tournament MVP Safiyyah Yasin scored a game-high 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting and completed the tournament with 57 points in two games. Overall the Seawolves shot 58.9% from the field (33-for-56) and were 8-for-17 (47.1%) from 3-point range. Yazmeen Goo added 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
The Seawolves led wire-to-wire never trailing in the game and built a lead to as many as 26 points midway through the 4th quarter. After trailing 43-27 at the half, but Vikings cut the deficit to 8 points late in the 3rd quarter by going on a 11-2 run. UAA answered with a 12-5 spurt to close out the 3rdquarter and out-scored the Vikings 13-2 in the first five minutes of the final quarter.
The NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championships Field of 64 will be announced Sunday at 7:00 pm, with the Vikings hopeful to receive an at-large bid to the eight-team West Regional. The women's selection show will air live on the DII women's basketball homepage at NCAA.com.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. ALASKA ANCHORAGE
UAA won the rubber-match between the two teams Saturday night, with each team winning on its home court during the regular season. WWU was the lone GNAC team to beat UAA during the regular season, a 71-64 victory on Jan. 23 in Carver Gym. WWU leads the all-time series 30-28, but UAA has won 10 of the last 11 games. The Seawolves are now 5-0 all-time vs. the Vikings in the GNAC Championships.
2020 GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS BRACKET
Thursday, March 5 (Quarterfinals)
No. 3 Western Washington 69, No. 6 Montana State Billings 54
No. 5 Central Washington 76, No. 4 Simon Fraser 60
Friday, March 6 (Semifinals)
No. 3 Western Washington 66, No. 2 Northwest Nazarene 63
No. 1 Alaska Anchorage 79, No. 5 Central Washington 77
Saturday, March 7
No. 1 Alaska Anchorage 89, No. 3 Western Washington 68
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 eight of the last 12 seasons, and 35 times in the 49-year history of the program. WWU has 21 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 612, 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 1,044 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.
