FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The No. 11/12 Western Washington University women's basketball team used a historic shooting performance to open the second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule with a 37-point 99-62 road victory over Alaska Fairbanks Thursday night in the Patty Center.

The Vikings set program single-game records for three-pointers made (18) and attempted (35), shooting 51.4-percent from beyond the arc to improve to 15-2 overall and 9-1 in GNAC play. The first-place Vikings shrugged off a road loss to Montana State Billings in its last game, snapping a 14-game winning streak. WWU fell one point short of its third 100-point game of the season. UAF dropped to 4-13 overall and 1-9 in conference play. 

WWU got off to a quick start, leading UAF 15-2 through the first four minutes of the game. The Nanooks fought back going on a 15-3 run to pull to within one point at 18-17. Another 7-2 scoring spurt pulled UAF even with the nationally-ranked Vikings at 24-24 with under a minute remaining in the quarter.

A late three-pointer by sophomore guard Maddy Grandbois gave the Vikings a 27-24 lead at the end of the first quarter, jump-starting a 21-0 run that provided to be too much for UAF to overcome in the wire-to-wire WWU victory. The Vikings out-scored the Nanooks 29-7 in the second quarter, and added another 29-point outburst in the fourth.

All 11 Vikings scored points, with five players reaching double figures. Senior forward Katrina Gimmaka tied her single-game career high with 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting (3-for-6 3FG) and Grandbois added 14 points (5-for-9 FG) with four three-pointers and dished out a career-high seven assists. Senior post Carley Zaragoza (12 points), junior forward Brooke Walling (11 points) and sophomore guard Riley Dykstra (10 points) also scored in double digits. Walling recorded her eighth double-double of the season grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.

With the Nanooks doubling down on the Vikings potent inside game, WWU's forwards took what was given to them by distributing the ball beyond the arc to help pace the record-setting shooting performance. Grandbois led the team with four three-pointers, followed by three each from Walling, Gimmaka and redshirt freshman guard Mason Oberg. WWU bettered the previous single-game program record of 15 made three-pointers twice vs. Cal Poly Humboldt (Humboldt State) during the 2005-06 season. 

Western's offense featured 29 assists, tying for the second-most in a game this season and tied for eighth in a game during the GNAC era (since 2001-02).

UAF was led by 11 points each from Destiny Reimers (4-for-13 FG) and Emma McKenney (4-for-8 FG, 3-for-6 3 FG). 

WWU held a 43-34 advantage in rebounding and scored 20 points off 20 UAF turnovers. The Vikings shot above their season field goal percentage at 36-for-73 (.493) and were over 50-percent from three-point range (.514/18-for-35).

The Vikings conclude their Alaska road trip Saturday facing Alaska Anchorage (13-6, 5-5 GNAC) in the Alaska Airlines Center with tip-off at 7 pm Alaska time, which is 8 pm in Bellingham. WWU entered the weekend ranked No. 11 (WBCA Coaches) and No. 12 (D2SIDA Media) in the national polls, and No. 2 in the D2SIDA West Region Poll. 

WWU (15-2, 9-1 GNAC) conclude its four-game road trip Saturday taking on Alaska Anchorage at the Alaska Airlines Center. Tip-off is set for 7 pm Alaska time (8 pm in Bellingham) with a live webcast available on YouTube at wwuvikings.com/Live.

Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and UAF:

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2022-23 season:

WWU swept the regular-season series over UAF, also winning 101-57 in Carver Gym on December 31…the Vikings combined to score 200 points in the two games…Western leads the all-time series 56-5, extending the current winning streak to 26 straight dating back to the 2008-09 season…the Vikings are now 27-5 all-time in games played in Fairbanks with a 14-game winning streak.

Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings, complete with Thursday's results from around the conference:

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2022-23 season following the Vikings 99-62 win at Alaska Fairbanks:

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 52-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 658, winning percentage and 20-win seasons. The Vikings have reached the NCAA II Tournament in 18 of 23 possible seasons at the Division II level with three trips to the Elite Eight (including 2022) and played in the 2022 national championship game. The program has 1,090 all-time wins in the 52-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.