BELLINGHAM, Wash. – For the first time in over a full year, the Western Washington University women's basketball team took to their home court in Carver Gym, and improved to 2-0 on the season with a 83-74 victory over Saint Martin's University Saturday evening.
 
A night after defeating the Saints 58-54 in Lacey, Western raced up and down WECU Court for the nine-point victory to continue its perfect start to the abbreviated season. Playing in its 11^th game of the season, Saint Martin's dropped to 5-6.
 
Senior forward Kelsey Rogers recorded her fourth career double-double with a 17-point, 10-rebound performance, leading a balanced effort that saw all 10 players that suited up score at least one point. 
 
Also reaching double-figures was junior guard Mollie Olson (14 points, 5 assists), senior guard Emma Duff (14 points) and junior forward Katrina Gimmaka (10 points). Senior guards Dani Iwami and Gracie Castaneda each added 9 points for the Vikings. While Duff, Iwami and Castaneda are all listed as seniors, they plan on using their extra year of eligibility for the Vikings in 2021-22.
 
"It was really great to see the team out on the court the last two nights with smiles on their faces," said WWU head coach Carmen Dolfo. "They competed all four quarters and played really well down the stretch. Kelsey (Rogers) played really well tonight and we had a really balanced effort scoring, and really shared the ball well with 19 assists."
 
The game was closely contested throughout the 40 minutes, with the Saints holding a 19-18 lead after the first quarter. WWU used a 15-0 run in the 2^nd quarter to build a 41-32 halftime lead, and led by as many as 13 points at 59-46 with 3:04 remaining in the 3^rd quarter.
 
Saint Martin's closed to within two points at 74-72 with 2:35 remaining in the contest, following a 11-4 run, but Western pulled away with a late 9-0 run to put the game away.
 
The Vikings finished with 19 assists, against only 7 turnovers, and out-rebounded the Saints 32-29.
 
Rian Clear and Claire Dingus led the Saints with 18 points each, with Dingus nearing the double-double with 18 points and 9 rebounds. 

  The Vikings return to action next week with a home-and-home series vs. Seattle Pacific University. WWU hosts SPU Friday night, and then travels to play inside Royal Brougham Pavilion on Saturday. Both games will tip-off at 5 pm.
  Junior guard Mollie Olson had a great start to the season, averaging 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in WWU's pair of victories. After scoring a career-high 17 points in Friday's season-opening victory, the Napavine native added 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting in Saturday's win.
  Following GNAC protocols, there were no fans in attendance for the game inside Carver Gym. All GNAC contest this season will feature no spectators, but all games will be streamed live online.
  The Vikings lead the all-time series vs. Saint Martin's 75-11 and are 46-2 dating back to 1998 vs. the Saints.
  With no fans allowed to attend home or away games due to GNAC mandates, all games can be followed via live webcast on YouTube. Links will be active at WWUVikings.com/WBB_Watch for all games, with Vikings TV bringing you the home game action from Carver Gym. Shawn Walli and Ben Bagley will have the call from inside Carver Gym. Live statistical updates can also be tracked in real time via WWUVikings.com/WBB_Stats.
  The Vikings took the court Friday for the first time in 356 days, with the last game action March 7, 2020 facing Alaska Anchorage in the GNAC Championships final in Seattle. Saturday's home game vs. the Saints marked 368 days since the Vikings last played a home game in Bellingham (2/25/20 vs. Simon Fraser). WWU went 22-9 last season, with a 14-6 league mark (3^rd place), and advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships before the postseason was canceled due to COVID-19.

W🏀| A quick first step and a sweet little scoop from Dani Iwami puts the Vikings up 11.#GoViks x #WeAreVikings pic.twitter.com/Qji2e1071f

— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) February 28, 2021

  Here is a look at the complete six-game schedule for the Vikings:
 

DATE	OPPONENT	PLACE	TIME/RESULT
Feb. 26 (Fri.)	at Saint Martin's	Lacey, WA (Marcus Pavilion)	W, 58-54
Feb. 27 (Sat.)	SAINT MARTIN'S	WECU Court at Carver Gym	W, 83-74
March 5 (Fri.)	SEATTLE PACIFIC	WECU Court at Carver Gym	5:00 pm
March 6 (Sat.)	at Seattle Pacific	Seattle, WA (Brougham Pavilion)	5:00 pm
March 12 (Fri.)	CENTRAL WASHINGTON	WECU Court at Carver Gym	5:00 pm
March 13 (Sat.)	at Central Washington	Ellensburg, WA (Nicholson Pavilion)	5:00 pm

  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 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 612, win percentage and 20-win seasons. The Vikings have reached the NCAA II Tournament in 17 of 22 seasons at the Division II level with two trips to the Final Four. The program has 1,045 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 milestone.