BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The No. 2/5 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's basketball team endured its first loss of the season falling 76-68 to Central Washington University Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play in Carver Gymnasium.
The Vikings (10-1, 2-1 GNAC) had its perfect 10-0 start halted and season-spanning 16-game winning streak snapped in the eight-point loss to the Wildcats (9-4, 2-2 GNAC). WWU was one of four remaining unbeaten teams in the NCAA Division II entering the game.
CWU scored the first five points of the game and WWU had to overcome a knee injury suffered by senior starting guard
Dani Iwami in the first 20 seconds of the contest. The Wildcats led wire-to-wire in the contest for their fifth win in their last six games.
The Vikings mounted a strong fourth-quarter comeback after trailing by as many as 14 points late in the third quarter. Western cut the deficit to two points on back-to-back layups by senior guard
Emma Duff with 3:07 remaining. Trailing by three points, a momentum-changing offensive foul was called on sophomore post
Carley Zaragoza on a play that would have trimmed CWU's lead to just one point with 1:38 remaining.
WWU's comeback attempt was stalled being limited to two points over the final three minutes of the game.
Duff recorded a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double and
Zaragoza had 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting before fouling out on the offensive call late in the game. Junior guard
Mollie Olson contributed 11 points and five assists and freshman guard
Riley Dykstra had eight points and four rebounds.
Kizzah Maltezo scored a game-high 29 points for CWU on 11-for-25 shooting and Sam Bowman recorded a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double. Kassidy Malcolm added 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.
In a battle of the top two shooting teams in the GNAC, CWU shot 43.5% (27-for-62) and WWU was at 40.3% (27-for-67). Western held a 42-36 advantage in rebounds, but committed 21 turnovers leading to 25 CWU points. The Wildcats doubled up the Vikings in trips to the free throw line (17-for-25 compared to 7-for-12), with the Vikings being called for 24 fouls (CWU with 12).
ODDS AND ENDS
The game was played with no fans in attendance following health and safety guidelines from WWU … Western played its first game since December 30 after having three consecutive games postponed due to health and safety protocols …
Emma Duff recorded her third double-double this season and 10th of her career with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
GNAC STANDINGS
Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings following play on Thursday:
| WOMEN'S BASKETBALL |
CONF |
PCT |
OVERALL |
PCT |
HOME |
AWAY |
NEUTRAL |
STREAK |
| Alaska Anchorage |
2-0 |
1.000 |
9-1 |
.900 |
4-0 |
4-1 |
1-0 |
Won 1 |
| Seattle Pacific |
3-1 |
.750 |
7-7 |
.500 |
5-2 |
1-3 |
1-2 |
Won 3 |
| Western Washington |
2-1 |
.667 |
10-1 |
.909 |
3-1 |
5-0 |
2-0 |
Lost 1 |
| Montana State Billings |
2-1 |
.667 |
8-7 |
.533 |
5-4 |
1-1 |
2-2 |
Won 2 |
| Northwest Nazarene |
3-2 |
.600 |
9-4 |
.692 |
5-1 |
3-1 |
1-2 |
Lost 1 |
| Central Washington |
2-2 |
.500 |
9-4 |
.692 |
2-1 |
5-2 |
2-1 |
Won 4 |
| Western Oregon |
2-2 |
.500 |
6-5 |
.545 |
5-0 |
1-4 |
0-1 |
Won 2 |
| Saint Martin's |
1-2 |
.333 |
9-3 |
.750 |
6-1 |
1-2 |
2-0 |
Lost 1 |
| Simon Fraser |
1-3 |
.250 |
5-8 |
.384 |
2-0 |
1-4 |
2-4 |
Lost 2 |
| Alaska Fairbanks |
0-4 |
.000 |
1-8 |
.111 |
0-4 |
0-3 |
1-1 |
Lost 8 |
| THURSDAY'S GNAC RESULTS |
| Central Washington 76, at Western Washington 68 |
BEST WINNING STREAKS & UNBEATEN STARTS
The Vikings had its perfect start to the season come to an end after opening the 2021-22 campaign with 10 consecutive victories. The 10-0 start goes into the record books as tied for the 3rd-best in program history and the 16-game winning streak (dating back to spring 2021) is 5th-best in WWU history.
| LONGEST WINNING STREAKS |
| 1. |
21 |
Dec. 21, 2005 – Mar. 10, 2006 |
| 2. |
19 |
Dec. 11, 2010 – Feb. 22, 2011 |
|
19 |
1971 – 72, dates unknown |
| 4. |
17 |
Dec. 19, 2016 – Feb. 16, 2017 |
| 5. |
16 |
Feb. 26, 2021 – Dec. 30, 2021 |
| 6. |
15 |
1972 – 73, dates unknown |
|
15 |
Dec. 14, 1979 – Feb. 8, 1980 |
|
15 |
Nov. 21, 1983 – Jan. 21, 1984 |
|
15 |
Nov. 23, 2004 – Jan. 22, 2005 |
| 10. |
14 |
1973 – 74, dates unknown |
| 11. |
13 |
Feb. 11, 1997 – Mar. 23, 1997 |
| 12. |
12 |
Nov. 20, 1989 – Dec. 28, 1989 |
|
12 |
Feb. 14, 2013 - Mar. 26, 2013 |
| 14. |
11 |
Jan. 24, 1989 – Feb. 23, 1989 |
|
11 |
Jan. 27, 1996 – Mar. 15, 1996 |
|
11 |
Dec. 18, 2012 - Jan. 2, 2013 |
| 17. |
10 |
Nov. 18, 1993 – Dec. 29, 1993 |
|
10 |
Jan. 17, 1981 – Feb. 13, 1981 |
|
10 |
Jan. 11, 1985 – Feb. 2, 1985 |
|
10 |
Nov. 26, 1988 – Dec. 29, 1988 |
|
10 |
Jan. 1, 1990 – Feb. 6, 1990 |
|
10 |
Nov. 16, 1990 – Jan. 4, 1991 |
|
10 |
Nov. 26, 1994 – Dec. 30, 1994 |
|
10 |
Dec. 5, 1997 – Jan. 10, 1998 |
|
10 |
Jan. 7, 2010 – Feb. 6, 2010 |
| BEST UNBEATEN STARTS |
| 1. |
19-0 |
1971-1972 |
| 2. |
12-0 |
1989-1990 |
| 3. |
10-0 |
2021-2022 |
|
10-0 |
1993-1994 |
|
10-0 |
1990-1991 |
|
10-0 |
1988-1989 |
| 7. |
9-0 |
1999-2000 |
| 8. |
7-0 |
1998-1999 |
ABOUT WWU BASKETBALL
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 628, 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 1,060 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.
