ANCHORAGE – The No. 14 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's basketball game dropped a tightly-contested 61-54 Great Northwest Athletic Conference match-up at Alaska Anchorage on Thursday in the Alaska Airlines Center.

WWU trailed by eight points with 4:30 remaining in the game, but nearly erased the deficit pulling to within one point at 55-54 with 1:49 remaining. The Vikings had a chance to pull ahead on a Stephanie Peterson mid-range jump shot with 41 seconds remaining, but the narrow miss led to UAA scoring the final six points for the seven-point victory.

The Vikings dropped to 9-3 on the season and 1-1 in GNAC play. UAA improved to 7-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play while snapping a five-game losing streak to the Vikings.

Senior All-American forward Brooke Walling led all players with 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting and junior forward Aspen Garrison chipped in eight points on 3-for-6 shooting. Junior guard Riley Dykstra led Western with eight rebounds and Peterson dished out a game-high six assists. 

Playing without starting point guard Mason Oberg (injury), the Vikings were pressured into making a season-high 26 turnovers. 

UAA was led by 16 points from Vishe' Rabb (7-for-10 FG). The Seawolves recorded 16 steals and scored 20 points off the Vikings 26 turnovers.

Senior forward Brooke Walling earned the WECU Player of the Game award scoring a game-high 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Walling added four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots while scoring in double-digits for the 12th consecutive game.

The Vikings (9-3, 1-1 GNAC) close out their five-game road trip Saturday taking on Alaska Fairbanks in a game that features a 3 pm AKT/4 pm PT tip-off. WWU is next back in Carver Gym hosting Central Washington Thursday, January 11. The complete season schedule, complete with links on how to watch the games, can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/WBB.

WWU had its five-game winning streak vs. UAA snapped, ending the longest winning streak by the Vikings over the Seawolves during the NCAA era (since 1998-99)…WWU continues to lead the all-time series 35-29 with a 15-14 record in games played in Alaska.

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

Here is an updated look at the 2023-24 GNAC Women's Basketball standings following play on Thursday:

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 61-54 loss Thursday at UAA:

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 676, 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 1,108 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.