SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Western Washington University women's basketball program capped an impressive road trip to Southern California with a second consecutive victory over a nationally-ranked opponent at the CSUSM Hoops Classic.
 
WWU remained perfect on the season at 3-0 defeating tournament host and No. 19 nationally-ranked Cal State San Marcos 78-73 Saturday afternoon in The Sports Center. WWU opened the weekend tournament with a 73-57 victory over No. 5 Azusa Pacific on Friday afternoon. The Vikings entered the week receiving votes in both the WBCA and D2SIDA national polls and were ranked No. 4 in the West Region. WWU will surely move up in the West Region rankings after knocking off No. 2 APU and No. 3 CSUSM.
 
"It was a great team effort all weekend with so many players stepping up at different times," said WWU head coach Carmen Dolfo (31st season, 621-245/.717). "Our defense dictated our whole weekend."
 
The Vikings were led by the 18-point, eight-rebound performance on 8-for-10 shooting by senior Emma Duff, who was coming off a 23-point, 13-rebound double-double vs. APU. Duff got in early foul trouble, but was a catalyst in the strong second half performance scoring 12 of her 18 points after the halftime break.
 
Duff was one of four Vikings to score in double-digits, joined by 13-point performances by sophomore forward Brooke Walling (5-for-11 FG) and junior guard Mollie Olson (3-for-8 FG, 5-for-6 FT). Senior guard Dani Iwami added 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting.
 
Duff, Walling and Iwami all secured a spot on the CSUSM Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team. In two games, Duff averaged 20.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 59.3% (16-for-27).
 
The Vikings shot 50.8% for the game (31-for-61) and were 6-for-13 from 3-point range. In the two-game tournament WWU combined to shoot 45.0% (58-for-129) and were 13-for-29 from beyond the arc (44.8%).
 
In the win over the Cougars, WWU held a 35-32 rebounding edge and out-scored CSUSM 44-26 in the paint. The Vikings held the Cougars to 39.2% shooting from the floor (20-for-51),
 
With the Vikings trailing 9-8 midway through the first quarter, a 3-pointer by Walling gave the Vikings an 11-9 lead. It's one they would never relinquish. The Vikings pushed the lead to 20-14 after the first 10 minutes, closing the quarter on a 5-0 run. The lead grew to its largest of the game at 29-16 on a three-pointer by Iwami at the 5:06 mark of the second quarter, but a 10-2 run by San Marcos to end the first half made it a four-point game (37-33) at the break.
 
The Cougars kept the game close in the second half thanks to their huge advantage at the free throw line. CSUSM was 16-for-19 (84.2%) from the line in the second half (26-for-33 overall) compared to the Vikings (4-for-8 in the second half, 10-for-15 overall) who only had two of their eight second half free-throw attempts come outside of the final thirty seconds.
 
The Cougars made it a one-point game on a three-pointer by Kelsey Forrester with 1:42 remaining to make it 74-73 in favor of the Vikings. Iwami sealed the game for the Vikings however as she hit a running floater in the lane with 1:10 left and hit 2-of-4 free throws down the stretch to give the Vikings the five-point victory.
 
San Marcos had four players reach double-digits in scoring, led by 19 points from Akayla Hackson and 15 points from Jordan Vasquez.
 
CSUSM dropped to 2-1 on the season after opening the tournament with 71-50 victory over Seattle Pacific. APU defeated SPU 67-61 in overtime earlier Saturday in the CSUSM Hoops Classic.
  The Vikings had three players selected to the CSUSM Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team:
 

• Emma Duff (20.5 points/game, 10.5 rebounds/game, 16-for-27 FG/.593)
• Dani Iwami (10.0 points/game, 4.0 assists/game, 4-for-6 3FG/.667)
• Brooke Walling (7.5 points/game, 7.0 rebounds/game)

  The Vikings (3-0) remain on the road next week with a pair of games in Colorado. WWU takes on Regis in Denver on Friday, November 26 (5 pm MT/4 pm PT) and Colorado Christian in Lakewood on Saturday, November 27 (3 pm MT/2 pm PT). Fans can follow all the action live online or via live statistical updates with direct links at wwuvikings.com/Live. The Vikings will make their 2021-22 home debut on December 2 hosting Lincoln University of California.
  One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in eight of the last 12 full seasons, and 35 times in the 50-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 621, winning 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 1,053 all-time wins in the 50-year history of the program, and according to available records, is one of less than 20 women's college basketball team across all divisions and levels to reach the 1,000-victory milestone.