BELLINGHAM, Wash. – After a perfect 2-0 start to the abbreviated 2020-21 season, the Western Washington University women's basketball program is back on the court this week playing Seattle Pacific University in a home-and-home series.
 
Western hosts SPU (7-5) Friday on WECU Court in Carver Gym, and then travels to Seattle to play the Falcons Saturday night in Brougham Pavilion. Both games will feature a 5 pm tip-off, and like the first two games of the season, no fans will be permitted due to GNAC guidelines.
 
The pair of games vs. the Falcons are part of a six-game slate for the Vikings, which concludes March 12-13 vs. in-state rival Central Washington University.
 
The Vikings opened the 2020-21 season last week with a pair of victories, defeating Saint Martin's University on the road 58-54 in the season opener Friday in Lacey and earned a nine-point victory the following night in Carver Gym, 83-74.
 
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 5	Live Coverage
WWU vs. Seattle Pacific  »  5:00 pm  »  Bellingham, WA  »  WECU Court in Carver Gym	📊 LiveStats   🎥 Webcast
Saturday, March 6	Live Coverage
WWU at Seattle Pacific  »  5:00 pm  »  Seattle, WA  »  Royal Brougham Pavilion	📊 LiveStats   🎥 Webcast

ABOUT LAST WEEK
After not playing in nearly a full calendar year, Western opened the 2020-21 like it was in midseason form notching a pair of wins over Saint Martin's. The Vikings averaged 70.5 points in the two wins and combined to shoot 44.4% from the field (52-for-117). Following a little season-opening jitters that featured 13 turnovers in Friday's 58-54 win, the Vikings turned in a solid 19-assist, 7-turnover performance in Saturday's 83-74 victory.

ABOUT THE FALCONS
Seattle Pacific will close out their abbreviated 2020-21 season with the games vs. the Vikings. The Falcons enter the weekend set with a 7-5 record and are 4-2 over their last six games. Junior guard/forward Ashley Alter leads SPU averaging 13.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, while junior guard Rachel Berg is averaging 11.1 points and 2.6 assists.
  Junior guard Mollie Olson (Napavine, WA) was selected as the GNAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week for games played February 22-28. Olson scored 31 points in the series vs. Saint Martin's (15.5 points/game), also averaging 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. In the season opener she scored a career-high 17 points, and followed that performance with 14 points on Saturday. Overall Olson shot 50.0% from the field (12-for-25) and was 5-for-7 (.714) from the free throw line.


 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR ROGERS
Senior post player Kelsey Rogers recorded her fourth career double-double in Saturday's 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.
 

HOW TO WATCH THE VIKINGS
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 Falcons 64-33, including a current three-game winning streak. The Vikings defeated SPU last season 73-60 in Bellingham (for Carmen Dolfo's 600^th career victory) and 77-62 in Seattle. Overall WWU has won 8 of the last 11 in the series .
  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.
 

#	SUMMARY	GP	GS	Pts/G	Min/G	FG%	3PT%	FT%	Reb/G	Ast/G	Stl	Blk
32	Olson,Mollie	2	2	15.5	30.5	.500	.286	.714	5.0	3.5	4	5
15	Rogers,Kelsey	2	2	13.0	22.0	.588	.000	.667	7.0	1.0	1	2
12	Duff,Emma	2	2	9.5	22.5	.400	.333	.833	4.0	0.5	0	1
20	Gimmaka,Katrina	2	0	7.5	19.5	.429	.250	1.000	1.0	0.5	2	0
10	Iwami,Dani	2	2	6.5	31.5	.278	.125	.333	1.0	3.0	3	0
34	Zaragoza,Carley	2	0	6.0	13.0	.625	.000	.667	2.0	0.0	0	0
1	Dykstra,Avery	2	2	5.0	21.0	.750	.000	1.000	1.0	1.5	0	2
22	Castaneda,Gracie	2	0	4.5	17.5	.300	.500	.000	1.5	1.0	1	0
3	Dykstra,Riley	2	0	1.5	11.0	.500	.000	.500	2.0	0.0	1	0
13	Fierke,Monique	2	0	1.5	7.5	.500	.500	.000	0.0	0.0	0	0
21	Coleman,Maddison	1	0	0.0	8.0	.000	.000	.000	2.0	1.0	2	0
	WWU	2	2	70.5	--	.444	.286	.692	32.5	11.5	14	10
	Opponents	2	2	64.0	--	.416	.308	.720	37.0	11.5	9	0

  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.
  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	5:00 pm
March 6 (Sat.)	at Seattle Pacific	Seattle, WA (Brougham Pavilion)	5:00 pm
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

  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 1,046 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.