HAYWARD, Calif. – Led by Brooke Walling hitting a career scoring milestone and another complete team effort, the No. 9/13 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's basketball team recorded a dominating 79-55 road victory over Cal State East Bay Saturday afternoon in Pioneer Gymnasium.

The Vikings improved to 8-2 overall, bouncing back from Thursday's 74-69 loss at Dominican that snapped a five-game winning streak. WWU closes out its non-conference schedule Monday at Cal State San Bernardino. Cal State East Bay, winners of two of its last three games, dropped to 4-6 on the season. The game was a rematch of the 2022 West Regional final won 73-59 by the Vikings.

WWU fell one point short of a season high in points scored, fueled by shooting 29-for-58 (.500) from the field and 10-for-22 (.455) from three-point range. The Vikings also dominated the boards with a 40-26 advantage in rebounding and out-scored the Pioneers 36-24 in the paint. The Vikings used a big first-quarter 24-6 advantage to get off to a great start while leading by as many as 32 points in the contest.

Walling crossed the 1,000-point milestone for her career with an all-around 21-point, 9-rebound, 4-block, 3-assist, 3-steal performance. The senior All-American was 9-for-12 shooting while playing 30 minutes. With a second-quarter three-pointer, Walling passed the 1,000-point mark for her collegiate career and now has 1,015 career points with WWU (874 in 67 games) and Fresno State (141 in 56 games).

Sophomore guard Mason Oberg and junior guard Maddy Grandbois each scored 13 points as the Vikings were able to play all 11 active players with eight players scoring points. Senior guard Stephanie Peterson led the team with five assists and junior guards Riley Dykstra and Oliva Wikstrom each contributed eight points.

The Vikings limited Cal State East Bay to 34.0-percent shooting (18-for-53). The Pioneers were led by 15 points from CCAA leading scorer Payton Sterk with 15 points on 4-for-16 shooting.

The Vikings used a big first-quarter run to build a 24-6 lead through the first 10 minutes of action, out-scoring East Bay 24-2 after trailing 4-0 to start the game. Grandbois scored eight points in the opening quarter and the Vikings opened the game going 8-for-15 form 3-point range. Western added a 21-11 advantage in the second quarter to take a sizeable 45-17 lead into the halftime break, with Grandbois leading all scorers with 13 points in the first half (5-for-7 FG, 3-for-5 3FG). Wikstrom and Riley Dykstra each scored eight points and Walling had seven points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 14 minute of action. 

The Vikings were able to get the whole team involved in the second half with all 11 active players seeing at least four minutes of action on the court. East Bay out-scored the Vikings 38-34 over the final 20 minutes, but WWU still left Hayward with a 24-point victory over the Pioneers. Walling scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, fueled by eight points in the third quarter and six more in the final stanza. 

Senior Brooke Walling crossed the 1,000-point mark for her collegiate career with a three-pointer at the 6:05 mark in the second quarter. Walling finished with 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting and now has 1,015 career collegiate points, with 874 in 67 games (13.0 ppg) at Western. She began her collegiate career at Fresno State totaling 141 points in 56 games for the Bulldogs.

W🏀 | A total team effort led to a 79-55 victory over Cal State East Bay, out-scoring the Pioneers by 24 points, but what a day to celebrate 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ career points for Brooke Walling with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals and 3 assists. That's our All-American! pic.twitter.com/hqs8rZ6pBi
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) December 16, 2023
  

The Vikings (8-2, 1-0 GNAC) close out the non-conference portion of the schedule Monday with the final game of 2023 taking on Cal State San Bernardino at 1 pm. WWU is next back in Carver Gym hosting Central Washington Thursday, January 11 in the new year in GNAC play. The complete season schedule, complete with links on how to watch the games, can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/WBB.

WWU remained unbeaten vs. Cal State East Bay all-time in the series, improving to 8-0 all-time vs. the Pioneers. Saturday's game was a re-match of the 2022 West Regional Final, won by the Vikings 73-59 on March 14, 2022 to punch the Vikings ticket to the Elite 8 and eventually the national title game.

Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and Cal State East Bay:

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2023-24 season:

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2023-24 season following the 24-point victory over Cal State East Bay:

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in 10 of the last 14 full seasons, and 37 times in the 52-year history of the program. WWU has 23 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 675, winning percentage and 20-win seasons. The Vikings have reached the NCAA II Tournament in 19 of 24 possible seasons at the Division II level with three trips to the Elite Eight (last in 2022) and played in the 2022 national championship game. The program has 1,107 all-time wins in the 53-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.