LACEY, Wash. – Junior guard Avery Dykstra hit both free throws with seven seconds left and the No. 1 seeded Western Washington University women's basketball team used their deep roster, strong defense and clutch free-throw shooting to defeat No. 5 Montana State Billings 69-63 in the semifinals of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships Friday afternoon in Marcus Pavilion.
 
No.14/22 nationally-ranked WWU recorded its 20th win of the season leading wire-to-wire to improve to 20-4 overall and will be playing in the championship game for the eighth time in the 11 years of the tournament. The Vikings will meet in-state rival and No. 3 seed Central Washington in Saturday's 5 pm final. CWU defeated No. 2 Alaska Anchorage 80-65 in Friday's first semifinal game.
 
The Vikings came out of the gates playing their signature smothering defense and held the Yellowjackets to 16.7% shooting (2-for-12 FG) in the first quarter to open up a 15-6 lead. The second quarter looked like the Vikings might run away with things early as they went on a 10-4 run to push the lead to 25-10 with 6:15 left in the first half. MSUB battled back going on an 11-2 run of its own and holding the Vikings without a field goal the rest of the period to make it a 27-21 WWU lead at the break.
 
The Vikings again leaned on their strong defense as they started the second half holding MSUB without a field goal over the first 5:43 of play and used a 13-5 run to enter the fourth quarter up 48-36. It was a 53-38 lead with 8:31 left and looked like it might be all over before the Yellowjackets went on a 19-9 to make it a 62-57 game with just under a minute left to play. The Vikings converted 7-of-8 free throw attempts down the stretch to secure the 69-63 victory and punch their ticket to the GNAC Final.
 
Mirroring Thursday's fourth quarter outburst, senior Emma Duff poured in 10 of her 15 points in the final stanza, going 8-for-10 from the free throw line. Duff led a balanced scoring attack that featured four players scoring in double figures. Sophomore forward Brooke Walling again had a strong performance with 14 points (5-for-12 FG) and seven rebounds. Junior guard Avery Dykstra added 11 points, going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe, including the final two with four seconds left to seal the win. Junior guard Mollie Olson chipped in with 10 points in only 11 minutes of action. In total, 11 Vikings saw action with nine finding their way onto the scoring sheet.
 
WWU combined to go 22-for-26 (.846) from the free throw line and shot 44.9-percent overall from the field (22-for-49). WWU's defense limited MSUB to its third-lowest shooting performance of the season at 31.7-percent (19-for-60) and 2-for-18 from three-point range (.200).
 
The Yellowjackets (17-12) had three players reach double figures in scoring, led by Cariann Kunkel's 18 points (6-for-16 FG), 13 from Taryn Shelley (5-for-11 FG) and 12 from Aspen Giese.
  The Vikings have advanced to play in the GNAC championship game for the eighth time and will be looking for the third title in the 11-year history of the tournament (2-5 record). WWU also advanced to the last title game in 2020. WWU will play in-state rival Central Washington in the championship game marking the third time the Vikings and Wildcats have met in the GNAC Tournament. WWU is 2-0 vs. CWU all-time in the GNAC Tournament and the teams split the season series with each team winning on the road.

  The Vikings reached the 20-win mark (20-4), marking the 36th 20-win season in the 51-year history of the program, and 22nd in 31 seasons under head coach Carmen Dolfo.
  Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and MSUB from Friday's GNAC Championships semifinal game at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey:
 

COMPARISON	WWU	MSUB
Points	69	63
Field Goal Pct.	.449 (22-49)	.317 (19-60)
3 Point FG Pct.	.200 (3-15)	.111 (2-18)
Free Throw Pct.	.846 (22-26)	.852 (23-27)
Rebounds	35	34
Offensive Rebounds	6	14
Defensive Rebounds	29	20
Assists	10	10
Turnovers	14	10
Steals	4	3
Blocked Shots	5	2
Time Led	39:05	0:00
Points off Turnovers	15	12
Points in the Paint	36	30
Bench Points	20	21
Fouls	28	23

  Here is an updated look at the schedule and results from the 2022 GNAC Women's Basketball Championships:
 

GNAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE

Wednesday, March 2 – First Round

No. 9 Saint Martin's 71, No. 8 Western Oregon 62 (at Lacey) No. 7 Seattle Pacific 78, No. 10 Alaska Fairbanks 48 (at Seattle)

Thursday, March 3 - Quarterfinals

No. 5 Montana State Billings 69, No. 4 Northwest Nazarene 56 (at Lacey) No. 3 Central Washington 91, No. 6 Simon Fraser 85 (at Seattle) No. 1 Western Washington vs. Saint Martin's (at Lacey), 2:15 pm No. 2 Alaska Anchorage 57, No. 7 Seattle Pacific 50 (at Seattle)

Friday, March 4 – Semifinals (Lacey, WA)

No. 3 Central Washington 80, No. 2 Alaska Anchorage 65 No. 1 Western Washington 69, No. 5 Montana State Billings 63

Saturday, March 5 – Final (Lacey, WA)

No. 1 Western Washington vs. No. 3 Central Washington, 5:00 pm

The 2021-22 edition of the GNAC Basketball Championships is the 11th in conference history. The championships began in 2011 with games played on campus sites and moved to a hosting situation in 2012. The Viking women have advanced to the championships in 10 of 11 seasons and are now 15-7 all-time in the tournament. WWU won back-to-back tournament titles in 2012-13 and 2013-14, and have now advanced to play in the championship game in eight of 11 tournaments.
    One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in nine of the last 13 full seasons, and 36 times in the 51-year history of the program. WWU has 22 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 638, 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 1,070 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.