BELLINGHAM, Wash. – After winning the 2021-22 Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title, the Western Washington University women's basketball team is well-represented on the all-conference team.
 
WWU had five players earn All-GNAC honors and Carmen Dolfo was selected as the GNAC Coach of the Year for the fifth time. The Vikings won the regular-season title with an 18-4 overall record and 10-4 mark in GNAC play. WWU is the No. 1 seed heading into the conference championships this week in Lacey.
 
Western's all-conference honors were led by senior guard Emma Duff earning first-team honors, while sisters Avery and Riley Dykstra took home a pair of special awards. Avery was selected as the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and Riley was voted as the Freshman of the Year.
 
Avery Dykstra was a Second Team All-GNAC pick with junior guard Mollie Olson, sophomore forward Brooke Walling and Riley Dykstra being named honorable mention All-GNAC.
 
Duff (Tumwater, WA/Black Hills) was the Vikings leading scorer during the regular season averaging 15.7 points per game to rank 6th in the GNAC. She is also listed amongst the league leaders with 6.7 rebounds per game (7th in GNAC), 5th in free throw percentage (.829/63-for-76), 6th in three-point shooting percentage (.360/32-for-89) and 7th in blocked shots (0.9/game). She has scored in double-digits in 18 of 22 games and recently climbed into the top 15 in program history with 1,208 career points (12th all-time).  
Avery Dykstra (Everson, WA/Lynden Christian) earned Second Team All-GNAC honors and became the first WWU player to earn the top defensive honor since the award was created in 2012-13. In 21 games (all starts) during the regular season she averaged 7.0 points, 2.0 assists and 0.9 steals per game.  
Riley Dykstra (Everson, WA/Lynden Christian) becomes the second WWU player to earn the Freshman of the Year award joining Amanda Dunbar in 2007-08. The younger Dykstra is averaging 8.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while appearing in 21 games (7 starts). She is amongst the GNAC leaders in rebounding (15th), field goal percentage (11th, .483/69-for-143), three-point field goal percentage (3rd, .389/21-for-54) and scoring (25th). She also earned honorable mention all-conference honors.
Walling (Vancouver, WA/Prairie/Fresno State) had a strong debut for the Vikings averaging 7.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocked shots per game. She led the team and tied for 5th in the GNAC with five games with double-digit rebounds. Amongst the league leaders she heads into the postseason listed 5th in rebounding, 10th in blocked shots and 17th in steals.
 
Olson (Napavine, WA) has appeared in 16 games (14 starts) averaging 8.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. The junior guard has been limited late in the season with a knee injury, but has been a dynamic piece of the conference champions lineup throughout the year.
  In her 31st season leading the Vikings, Dolfo has now received 12 Coach of the Year awards and is a five-time GNAC Coach of the Year recipient. She helped guide the Vikings to the fifth GNAC regular-season title in program history, adding the 2021-22 Coach of the Year award to her collection from 2001-02, 2005-06, 2010-11 and 2012-13. Dolfo is one of the winningest coaches across all of the NCAA with an all-time record of 636-249 (.719).