BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's basketball team closes out the regular season Saturday night with a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at Simon Fraser University.
 
The Vikings enter the match-up vs. SFU with an 18-3 overall record and are on top of the GNAC standings with a 10-3 league mark. Saturday's game on Burnaby Mountain will tip-off at 5:15 pm as part of an SFU-WWU doubleheader with the men's game following in West Gym at 7:30 pm. The game will feature live coverage with statistical updates and a webcast with direct links available at wwuvikings.com/Live.
 
The national-ranked Vikings enter the regular-season finale ranked No. 6 in the nation in the D2SIDA media poll and tied for No. 9 in the WBCA Coaches poll. WWU is also the top team in the NCAA Division II West Regional rankings.
 
The Vikings are coming off a dominating 81-48 home victory over Saint Martin's on Tuesday in Carver Gym. WWU suffered just its third defeat of the season Monday evening in an 87-76 overtime loss to Northwest Nazarene. Freshman guard Riley Dykstra hit a game-tying buzzer beater for Western to send the game vs. NNU into overtime.
 
Following Saturday's game at SFU, the bracket for the 2022 GNAC Championships will be revealed on GNACSports.com. The regular season conference champion and tournament seeding will be decided on a new Points Rating System. The GNAC Tournament will feature all 10 teams this season and be held in conjunction with the men's tournament March 2-5 in Seattle and Lacey.
 
The Vikings 18-3 record has been fueled by a dominating defensive effort, holding opponents to 55.8 points per game (No. 1 in GNAC, No. 16 in NCAA II) and a 34.1 shooting percentage (No. 1 in GNAC, No. 10 in NCAA II). Paced by 15. points per game from senior All-America candidate Emma Duff, the Vikings feature six active players all averaging at least seven points per game. Junior forward Katrina Gimmaka has held a hot hand lately scoring in double-digits in each of the last three games.
 

THIS WEEK IN WWU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 26	Live Coverage
at Simon Fraser  »  5:15 pm  »  Burnaby, BC  »  West Gym	📊 LiveStats   🎥 Webcast

  The Vikings earned the top spot in the second edition of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Rankings in the West Region. WWU is 18-3 overall, with a 17-3 record vs. in-region opponents and a robust 12-1 record in road games. The top eight teams in the regional rankings will help determine the eight-team West Regional field that will be played March 11-14 at the site of the highest seed. The GNAC, CCAA and PacWest tournament champions receive an automatic bid to the NCAA II Championships.
  Defeated Simon Fraser in the opening game of the GNAC schedule 82-60 on December 4 in Carver Gym. WWU leads the all-time series 54-36, including a stretch of five wins in the last six meetings. The Vikings are 11-2 in the last 13 games and won 14 consecutive home games vs. SFU dating back to when they joined the GNAC in 2010-11. WWU is 5-6 in the last 11 trips to Burnaby Mountain.
  Prior to Tuesday's home regular-season finale against Saint Martin's WWU's three seniors were recognized in a special pregame ceremony. Emma Duff, Gracie Castaneda and Dani Iwami – along with senior members of the WWU band and cheer programs – were recognized for their contributions to the program over the last five years.

W🏀 | SENIOR NIGHT

Another look back on SENIOR NIGHT in Carver Gym on Tuesday. @wwubasketball defeated Saint Martin's 81-48 and we sent seniors Gracie Castaneda, Emma Duff and Dani Iwami off in style 😎 pic.twitter.com/JPdhHHsmoS
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) February 25, 2022

  Senior guard Emma Duff is averaging 15.5 points per game to rank 6th in the GNAC and 7.9 rebounds to rank 7th. She is also listed among league leaders with the 14th-best field goal percentage (.468/118-for-252), No. 3 in free throw percentage (.843/59-for-70) and has the 5th-highest 3-point field goal percentage (.383/31-for-81). Over her last 10 games (since 1/20 at UAA), Duff is averaging 17.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, including a career-high 29 points at Central Washington. Duff has eclipsed the 1,100-point mark for her career, now 15th in WWU history with 1,189 points.
 

WWU ALL-TIME CAREER POINTS LEADERS
1.	1990	Jo Metzger (109 games) - 1977-81
2.	1940	Taylor Peacocke (119 games) - 2013-17
3.	1786	Gina Sampson (120 games) - 1992-96
4.	1658	Celeste Hill (114 games) - 1996-00
5.	1654	Amanda Dunbar (115 games) - 2006-11
6.	1475	Cim Hanson (122 games) - 1987-91
7.	1432	Jenn McGillivray (113 games) - 2000-04
8.	1408	Lori deKubber (117 games) - 1981-85
9.	1367	Amanda Olsen (116 games) - 1996-00
10.	1335	Shannon Grandbois (114 games) - 1992-97
11.	1298	Cindy Pancerzewski (115 games) - 1981-85
12.	1207	Katie Colard (122 games) - 2011-15
13.	1195	Kris Keltner (117 games) - 1983-87
14.	1191	Tina Donahue (111 games) - 2002-06
15.	1189	Emma Duff (116 games) - 2017-22
16.	1164	Jan Johnston (105 games) - 1976-80
17.	1147	Erica Porter (122 games) - 1987-91
18.	1134	Tessa DeBoer (112 games) - 2000-04
19.	1128	Anna Rabel (91 games) - 1986-89
20.	1123	Alissia Lumpkin (116 games) - 1989-93

  Here are some facts on the Vikings impressive 18-3 start to the season:

• Ranked No. 1 in the West Region in NCAA West Regional rankings.
• Holds No. 9 (WBCA/Coaches) and No. 6 (D2SIDA/Media) national rankings…ranked in the top 15 in all 13 regular-season polls and spent 10 weeks in the national top 10.
• Opened the season with 10 consecutive wins and was one of four remaining undefeated teams prior to first loss.
• Out-scoring opponents by 15.3 points per game to rank 19th in NCAA Division II.
• Holds rebound advantage of 9.7, the 8th-best margin in NCAA Division II.
• Holding opponents to 55.8 points per game, the 16th-best mark in NCAA Division II.
• Team field goal percentage of .458 ranks 11th in NCAA Division II.
• 12 of 18 wins have been on the road (10-1 away, 2-0 neutral).
• Ranks No. 5 in the nation limiting opponents to a .238 3-point field goal percentage.

Sophomore forward Brooke Walling is 8th in the GNAC averaging 6.9 rebounds per game. Over the last six games she has grabbed 44 rebounds for a 7.33 per game average. Walling is also averaging 7.4 points per game and 1.3 steals per game while starting 19 of 21 games.
  Led by four-time selection Dani Iwami the Vikings set a program record with eight selections to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic Team. While a top-10 team on the court with an overall 14-1 record, the Vikings showed to be equally impressive in the classroom with the record-setting amount of award winners on the conference All-Academic squad presented by Barnes & Noble College. WWU surpassed the six awards from last season to set the program record, with the previous high being five honorees from 2016-17. Western was tied for 2nd in the GNAC with the eight selections, trailing 10 by Seattle Pacific and matching eight by Montana State Billings.
 

Name	Academic Major	Year	GPA	Hometown
Gracie Castaneda	Elementary Education	Sr.	3.28	Arlington, WA
Emma Duff*	Environmental Science	Sr.	3.33	Tumwater, WA
Avery Dykstra*+	Business Administration	Jr.	3.70	Everson, WA
Riley Dykstra	Elementary Education	Fr.	3.55	Everson, WA
Monique Fierke*	Public Health	Sr.	3.36	Monroe, WA
Dani Iwami*+#	Environmental Studies	Sr.	3.66	Seal Beach, CA
Mollie Olson	English	Jr.	3.22	Napavine, WA
Carley Zaragoza*	Environmental Science	So.	3.88	El Dorado, CA
* - 2020-21 All-Academic Selection + - 2019-20 All-Academic Selection # - 2018-19 All Academic Selection

  The Vikings are 12-1 on the road this season, going 10-1 in true away games and 2-0 in neutral-site contests. WWU has picked up key road wins over West Region ranked teams Alaska Anchorage, Central Washington, Azusa Pacific and Cal State San Marcos. WWU has made road trips to Colorado, Southern California, Northern California and a neutral-site game in Seattle, in addition to going 6-2 inside Carver Gym.
  The Vikings maintained its spot inside the top 10 at No. 6 in the D2SIDA Media Poll and rose to a tie for 9th in the WBCA Coaches Poll. WWU has spent 10 of the last 11 weeks in the national top-10 including reaching as high as No. 5 (WBCA) and tied for No. 2 (D2SIDA). The No. 2 national ranking was the highest WWU has been ranked in any of the national polls and the No. 5 coaches poll mark was the highest since being a consistent top-10 team in 2012-13, a season that finished with a No. 3 national ranking.
  Senior Emma Duff became the 28th player in WWU history to pass the 1,000 career point milestone on December 30 vs. Western Oregon. Duff now has 1,189 points in 116 games (90 starts) for an average of 10.3 points per game. She is the first player to join the exclusive club since the 2016-17 season when Taylor Peacocke, Kiana Gandy, Tia Briggs topped the 1,000-point mark for a career, and 16th in program history for total points.
  Here is a look at where WWU is listed in the official NCAA statistics rankings (through games of 2/24/22):
 

Statistic	National Ranking	GNAC Ranking	Value
Three Pt FG Defense	5	1	23.8
Rebound Margin	8	1	9.7
Field-Goal Percentage Defense	10	1	34.1
Field-Goal Percentage	11	1	45.8
Scoring Defense	16	1	55.8
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage	29	1	34.6
Blocked Shots Per Game	36	2	4.2
Assists Per Game	46	5	15.4
Scoring Offense	59	4	71.1
Rebounds Per Game	64	1	40.5
Blocked Shots	76	2	89.0
Fewest Turnovers	77	2	372.0
Fewest Fouls	95	2	398.0

  Here is a look at the results for the Vikings in the first 18 games of the 2021-22 season (18-3, 10-3 GNAC):
 

Record: 18-3    GNAC: 10-3    Home: 6-2    Away: 10-1    Neutral: 2-0
Date	Opponent		Score	High Points	High Rebounds
11/12/21	vs Humboldt State	W	68-56	(22) Duff	(11) Duff
11/19/21	vs Azusa Pacific	W	73-57	(23) Duff	(13) Duff
11/20/21	at Cal State San Marcos	W	78-73	(18) Duff	(8) Walling/Duff
11/26/21	at Regis	W	60-47	(11) Duff	(10) Walling
11/27/21	at Colorado Christian	W	58-51	(14) Dykstra,A	(10) Walling
12/02/21	LINCOLN (CA)	W	89-26	(15) Castaneda	(10) Reilly
12/04/21	SIMON FRASER*	W	82-60	(16) Dykstra,A	(9) Duff
12/14/21	at Academy of Art	W	57-43	(13) Zaragoza/Duff	(12) Dykstra,A
12/17/21	at Holy Names	W	83-32	(14) Olson/Iwami	(7) Reilly/Duff
12/30/21	WESTERN OREGON*	W	70-52	(12) Olson	(7) Duff
01/13/22	CENTRAL WASHINGTON*	L	68-76	(15) Duff	(10) Duff
01/20/22	at Alaska Anchorage*	W	53-45	(21) Duff	(7) Duff
01/22/22	at Alaska Fairbanks*	W	79-67	(19) Duff	(12) Walling
02/01/22	at Western Oregon*	W	77-59	(24) Duff	(7) Dykstra,R
02/03/22	SEATTLE PACIFIC*	W	59-40	(19) Duff	(7) Dykstra,R
02/10/22	at Northwest Nazarene*	L	70-77 (ot)	(16) Walling	(8) Walling/Duff
02/12/22	at Central Washington*	W	74-72	(29) Duff	(8) Grandbois
02/15/22	at Seattle Pacific*	W	75-54	(18) Duff/Dykstra,R	(9) Dykstra,R
02/19/22	ALASKA ANCHORAGE*	W	63-50	(14) Gimmaka	(6) Walling
02/21/22	NORTHWEST NAZARENE*	L	76-87 (ot)	(21) Dykstra,R	(12) Walling
02/22/22	SAINT MARTIN'S*	W	81-48	(18) Gimmaka	(9) Gimmaka

  While the regular-season conference champion and seeing for the GNAC tournament will be decided on a new points system, here is an updated look at the league standings heading into the final regular-season games of the season on Saturday. View the conference schedule, scores, stats and updated standings at GNACSports.com.
 

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL		CONF	PCT	OVERALL	PCT	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	STREAK
1.	Western Washington	10-3	.769	18-3	.857	6-2	10-1	2-0	Won 1
2.	Alaska Anchorage	12-4	.750	19-5	.792	9-2	9-3	1-0	Won 2
3.	Montana State Billings	10-4	.714	16-10	.615	10-5	4-3	2-2	Lost 1
4.	Central Washington	12-5	.706	19-7	.731	7-3	10-3	2-1	Won 1
5.	Northwest Nazarene	11-6	.647	17-8	.680	9-2	7-4	1-2	Won 4
6.	Simon Fraser	7-8	.467	11-13	.458	6-2	3-7	2-4	Lost 1
7.	Seattle Pacific	7-10	.412	11-16	.407	7-7	3-7	1-2	Lost 1
8.	Saint Martin's	4-12	.250	12-13	.480	7-6	3-7	2-0	Won 1
9.	Western Oregon	4-13	.235	8-16	.333	6-6	2-9	0-1	Lost 7
10.	Alaska Fairbanks	2-14	.125	3-18	.143	0-10	2-7	1-1	Lost 1
THIS WEEK'S GNAC SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Monday, February 21 Northwest Nazarene 87, at Western Washington 76 (OT) Seattle Pacific 61, at Western Oregon 59 (OT) Alaska Anchorage 89, at Central Washington 81 Tuesday, February 22 at Alaska Fairbanks 80, Simon Fraser 78 at Western Washington 81, Saint Martin's 48 Thursday, February 24 at Central Washington 81, Montana State Billings 77 (OT) at Northwest Nazarene 57, Seattle Pacific 54 Saint Martin's 78, at Alaska Fairbanks 69 at Alaska Anchorage 66, Western Oregon 65 Saturday, February 26 Western Oregon at Alaska Fairbanks, 1 pm AKT Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 4 pm Western Washington at Simon Fraser, 5:15 pm Saint Martin's at Alaska Anchorage, 5:15 pm AKT Montana State Billings at Northwest Nazarene, 5:15 pm MT

  The GNAC announced a change to the format and qualifying criteria for its 2022 men's and women's basketball championships. The conference's Management Council and CEO Board unanimously voted to expand this year's tournament to all 10 men's and women's programs. The GNAC Championships will now run from March 2 to 5. To accommodate full fields in both genders, the first two rounds of games will be split between Saint Martin's University in Lacey, Washington, and Seattle Pacific University. In total, six games – two play-in contests and four quarterfinals matchups – will be contested at SPU's Royal Brougham Pavilion. The other 12 games, including the semifinals and championship games in both genders, will be played at Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martin's, which was awarded tournament-hosting rights two years ago. For each gender, the No. 7 through No. 10 seeds will compete in play-in games on Wednesday, March 2. The winners will advance to an eight-team bracket, which will begin play on Thursday, March 3.
 
The points rating system is an end-of-season calculation that attaches numeric values to each result based on whether the game was at home or on the road and where each opponent's final conference winning percentage fell (i.e., .750 and above, .500 to .749, .250 to .499 and .249 and below). The better an opponent's final winning percentage, the greater the point values for a win or a loss. It is similar to one of the key metrics used by Division II in ranking teams under consideration for NCAA postseason at-large berths in multiple sports, including men's and women's basketball.
  Senior guards Emma Duff and Dani Iwami rank in the top 15 in WWU program history for career 3-pointers made. Here is a list of the all-time leader since the rule was adopted in 1987-88:
 

WWU ALL-TIME 3-POINT FG MADE
1.	258	Katie Colard (122 games)	2011-15
2.	256	Amanda Dunbar (115 games)	2006-11
3.	210	Jodie Kaczor (118 games)	1998-02
4.	191	Corinn Waltrip (120 games)	2009-13
5.	155	Stacey Miller (86 games)	2000-03
	155	Erica Porter (122 games)	1987-91
7.	145	K.C. Mattingly (80 games)	1994-97
	145	Taylor Peacocke (119 games)	2013-17
9.	139	Emma Duff (116 games)	2017-current
10.	124	Kristy Eggen (116 games)	1994-97,02-03
11.	119	Kristin Schramm (114 games)	2007-08,09-12
12.	114	Mollie Stelmack (57 games)	2005-07
13.	112	Dani Iwami (67 games)	2017-current
14.	106	Briana Abrahamsen (88 games)	1998-01
15.	104	Jodi Gerald (110 games)	2001-05

  Senior guard Dani Iwami suffered what could be a season and career-ending knee injury 20 seconds into the January 13 game vs. Central Washington. Iwami was averaging 9.1 points and 2.8 assists per game this season prior to the injury, and has appeared in 67 games during her WWU career. She is one of the top 3-point shooter in WWU history with 112 made 3-pointers.
  The Vikings had its perfect start to the season come to an end January 13 vs. Central Washington 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

  The Vikings have been voted No. 2 in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll, earning 89 total points to narrowly trail the 92 points obtained by preseason favorite Alaska Anchorage. UAA received seven of the 10 first-place votes, followed by two for WWU and one for Northwest Nazarene, who was picked to finish third with 70 poll points.
  Head coach Carmen Dolfo is in her 31st season leading the program, owning an all-time record of 636-248 (.719) 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). Dolfo tallied her 600th career victory on January 11, 2020 vs. Seattle Pacific, in her 840th career game. Dolfo became the 36th active NCAA women's head coach across all divisions to join the 600-win club and is one of 73 women's coaches all-time in NCAA history to reach the milestone. WWU has recorded 21 seasons with 20-or-more wins under Dolfo.
  The 2021-22 coaching staff includes 10th-year assistant head coach Stacey Turrell, along with graduate assistant Bobbi Westendorf, volunteer assistant Annalisa Fish and student assistant George Irwin.
  Two WWU women's basketball coaches have more than 400 career victories, with current head coach Carmen Dolfo amassing 636 wins and Hall of Fame coach Lynda Goodrich totaling 411 wins leading the Vikings for 19 seasons from 1971-1990. The program owns an all-time record of 1068-383 for a career winning percentage of .736.
  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 636, 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 1,068 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.