BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's basketball program has a chance to complete a perfect season this weekend.
 
Although limited to only six games in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vikings enter play this weekend with a perfect 4-0 record, and two games on tap against in-state rival Central Washington University (0-0). The Vikings are coming off a pair of victories over Seattle Pacific last weekend, including a last-second 59-57 road win over the Falcons on Saturday.
 
WWU travels to play CWU on Friday inside Nicholson Pavilion at 5 pm, where the Wildcats will play their first game of the season. The two teams will complete the home-and-home series Saturday night on WECU Court in Carver Gym with tip-off set for 6 pm.
 
Both games will be played in front of no fans to follow protocols laid out by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The games will both feature a live webcast and statistical updates with direct links at WWUVikings.com/Live.
 
All games during the 2020-21 season will count towards the historical and statistical record for the program, which enters its 50^th season of play. The games are not counted towards the conference standings, as the GNAC will not have a championship tournament in 2020-21.
 

THIS WEEK IN WWU BASKETBALL
Friday, March 12	Live Coverage
WWU at Central Wash.  »  5:00 pm  »  Ellensburg, WA  »  Nicholson Pavilion	📊 LiveStats   🎥 Webcast
Saturday, March 13	Live Coverage
WWU vs. Central Wash.  »  6:00 pm  »  Bellingham, WA  »  WECU Court in Carver Gym	📊 LiveStats   🎥 Webcast

  This week marks the last two games in the collegiate career of senior post player Kelsey Rogers. The product of Lynnwood High School is a four-year letterwinner for the Vikings and has appeared in 92 games, with 53 starts. During her career Rogers has averaged 9.4 points (866 points) and 4.2 rebounds per game (386 rebounds), while shooting at a .497 clip (367-for-738). Her career field-goal percentage is currently 17^th-best in program history. She is also a career .777 free throw shooter (129-for-166), the 15^th-best mark in WWU history, and has recorded 87 blocked shots (tied for 17^th).
 
The Vikings recorded a pair of defensive-minded victories over Seattle Pacific last weekend, defeating the Falcons at home 58-50 and on the road 59-57 in overtime. In the home-and-home series WWU combined to limit SPU to 53.5 points per game and a .313 field goal percentage (36-for-115 FG, 5-for-24 3FG). Guard Dani Iwami led the Vikings averaging 11.5 points per game, while junior guards Mollie Olson (11.0 ppg) and Avery Dykstra (10.5 ppg) also averaged double-digits in scoring in the two games. Dykstra hit the game-winning layup in the final seconds of overtime to seal the two-point victory over SPU in Brougham Pavilion.
  Central Washington was not able to play its first four games of the season vs. Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's, so they will be taking the court for the first time since the end of the 2019-20 season.
  Junior guard Mollie Olson leads the Vikings averaging 13.3 points per game, while also filling the stat sheet averaging 3.75 assists, 2.00 blocks and 1.75 steals per game. She opened the season scoring 31 points in two games vs. Saint Martin's to earn the GNAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week for games played February 22-28. She followed that performance up with 22 points and 8 assists in the wins over Seattle Pacific.
  Senior guard Emma Duff will have one year of eligibility remaining following this season, and is all but a lock to hit several statistical milestones. Duff has scored 847 points (9.1 ppg) in 93 games (67 starts) and grabbed 490 rebounds (5.3 rpg). She has also recorded 65 blocked shots, 86 steals and 136 assists.
  While the current 2020-21 roster shows five seniors, the Vikings will be returning a majority of the squad that has taken the court this season. Senior post player Kelsey Rogers will graduate following the spring quarter and Maddison Coleman plans to transfer to an NCAA Division III program to complete her collegiate career. Listed seniors Emma Duff, Gracie Castaneda and Dani Iwami have indicated they will return for their additional year of eligibility, while all junior, sophomore and freshman players will likely retain their current year of eligibility.
  Senior post player Kelsey Rogers recorded her fourth career double-double in the Feb. 27 win over Saint Martin's, scoring 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds. It was her first double-double performance since a 14-point, 10-rebound contest at Seattle Pacific during her sophomore season in 2018-19 (1/17/19).
  The Vikings placed a record six student-athletes on the 2020-21 Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic Team, presented by Barnes & Noble College. WWU's six selections tied Alaska Anchorage, Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene for the most among the 10 conference member schools in 2020-21. The six overall selections by Western set a program record, bettering the five honorees from the 2016-17 season. Student-athletes Emma Duff (Tumwater, WA), Avery Dykstra (Everson, WA), Monique Fierke (Monroe, WA), Dani Iwami (Seal Beach, CA), Kelsey Rogers (Bothell, WA) and Carley Zaragoza (El Dorado, CA) were all selected to the team for achieving at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average. Iwami and Rogers became three-time GNAC All-Academic honorees (the 8^th and 9^th in program history) and Dykstra was selected for the second consecutive year. Zaragoza led the team with a 3.97 GPA while pursuing a degree in environmental science. Overall, the program combined for a 3.48 GPA during the Fall 2020 quarter.
  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 WWU record book shows the Vikings leading the all-time series vs. the Wildcats 95-15, including going 1-1 last season. Western defeated Central 77-69 in the last meeting between the rivals on February 15, 2020 in Carver Gym. WWU is 6-5 vs. CWU in the last 11 meetings dating back to the 2015-16 season.
  Here is a look at WWU's season statistics through the first two games of the season. A full statistical report can be viewed at WWUVikings.com/WBB.
 

#	PLAYER	GP	GS	Pts/G	Min/G	FG%	3PT%	FT%	Reb/G	Ast/G	Stl	Blk
32	Olson,Mollie	4	4	30.0	.439	.308	.867	4.0	3.8	7	8	13.3
15	Rogers,Kelsey	4	4	24.0	.485	.000	.667	6.5	1.3	1	5	9.5
10	Iwami,Dani	4	4	29.0	.333	.222	.600	2.5	2.5	4	2	9.0
01	Dykstra,Avery	4	4	25.3	.588	.500	1.000	3.3	1.0	1	3	7.8
12	Duff,Emma	4	4	23.3	.273	.231	.800	7.0	0.3	2	1	7.3
20	Gimmaka,Katrina	4	0	18.5	.407	.300	1.000	2.0	0.3	2	0	6.8
22	Castaneda,Gracie	4	0	19.5	.318	.357	.000	2.5	0.8	2	1	4.8
34	Zaragoza,Carley	4	0	12.3	.400	.000	.667	2.0	0.0	1	1	3.5
13	Fierke,Monique	4	0	7.8	.500	.500	.000	0.0	0.0	1	0	1.5
03	Dykstra,Riley	4	0	10.3	.400	.000	.500	1.3	0.0	2	0	1.3
21	Coleman,Maddison	3	0	8.7	.000	.000	.000	2.3	1.0	2	0	0.0
	WWU Total	4	--	--	.387	.282	.780	39.0	10.5	25	21	64.5
	Opponents	4	--	--	.361	.260	.759	37.0	10.8	27	8	58.8

  As part of Western Wednesday on KPUG 1170 AM, three student-athletes were interviewed as part of a Whatcom County Hoops roundtable. KPUG host Mark Scholten interviewed Avery and Riley Dykstra (Lynden Christian) and Katrina Gimmaka (Nooksack Valley). A replay of the interview can be found by clicking on the picture below.
 
  When the Vikings walked on the court Friday at Saint Martin's, it marked 356 days between games with WWU's prior 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 between home games on WECU Court in Carver Gym (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.
  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	W, 58-50
March 6 (Sat.)	at Seattle Pacific	Seattle, WA (Brougham Pavilion)	W, 59-57 (ot)
March 12 (Fri.)	at Central Washington	Ellensburg, WA (Nicholson Pavilion)	5:00 pm
March 13 (Sat.)	CENTRAL WASHINGTON	WECU Court at Carver Gym	6:00 pm

Head coach Carmen Dolfo is in her 30^th season leading the program, owning an all-time record of 616-245 (.715) to rank amongst the active and career leaders at the NCAA Division II level for career wins and winning percentage. Dolfo has led the Vikings to 17 trips to the NCAA Championships and a pair of Elite 8 appearances. She became the winningest coach in WWU Athletics history when she collected victory No. 519 on Dec. 3, 2015 vs. Alaska to pass former men's basketball coach Brad Jackson (518-279). WWU has recorded 21 seasons with 20-or-more wins under Dolfo.
    WWU is 2-0 in Carver Gym this season, and finished last season with a 11-1 record in home games on WECU Court (9-1 in GNAC play). The Vikings are 490-91 (.843) all-time in Carver Gym, with head coach Carmen Dolfo leading the team to a 296-58 (.836) record in the on-campus facility.
  The 2020-21 coaching staff includes ninth-year head assistant coach Stacey Turrell, along with graduate assistants Lexie Bland (four-year player for WWU), Taylor Peacocke (All-American at WWU), Hannah Carlson (played at Northwest University) and Mikayla Pivec (All-American at Oregon State).
  Two WWU women's basketball coaches have more than 400 career victories, with current head coach Carmen Dolfo amassing 616 wins and Hall of Fame coach Lynda Goodrich totaling 411 wins leading the Vikings for 19 seasons from 1971-1990. The program has built an amazing 1048-380 record in 50 seasons for a .734 winning percentage.
  The Vikings earned a historic victory against Saint Martin's (69-58) on Jan. 13, 2018 to record win No. 1,000 in program history. According to available records, WWU became just the 16th women's college basketball team (all levels/divisions) to reach 1,000 all-time victories, and is currently at 1,048 all-time wins with a program winning percentage of .734 (1048-380).
  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 17 of 22 seasons at the Division II level with two trips to the Final Four. The program has 1,048 all-time wins in the 49-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.