HILO, Hawai'i – The Western Washington University women's basketball team recorded a hard-fought 66-62 road victory over the University of Hawai'i at Hilo Friday evening at the Big Island Holiday Classic.

WWU shrugged off a slow shooting start to the game to lead by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter and held off the Vulcans down the stretch to record the four-point victory. The Vikings improved to 6-4 on the season while winning four of its last five games. UHH dropped to 1-6 on the season with its fifth consecutive loss.

The short-handed Vikings missed their first seven field goal attempts and were down 20-7 late in the first quarter, but hit a pair of three-pointers to cut the deficit to seven points. WWU turned it up a notch in the second quarter going 8-for-12 (.667) from the floor and out-scored the Vulcans 19-10 to grab a 32-30 lead at the half.

The Vikings and Vulcans were locked in tight battle down the stretch with the game tied 59-59 with 2:18 remaining. Senior guard Maddy Grandbois hit a jump shot at the 2:02 mark to give Western the two-point lead and junior forward Alyson Deaver converted a three-point play to extend the lead to five points. Junior guard Mason Oberg put the game away at the free throw line converting a pair of shots from the charity stripe.

WWU was led by 18 points from sophomore guard Demi Dykstra, who was on her way to setting a career high in points (20) prior to going down with an injury with just under seven minutes left in the game. Senior guard Olivia Wikstrom tallied her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds, also adding a team-best five assists. Deaver finished with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting.

UHH was led by a game-high 19 points by Caiyle Kaupu on 7-for-13 shooting and 15 points by Jazmine Soto.

The Vikings (6-4, 1-1 GNAC) are back in action Saturday taking on Quincy at 7 pm HT/9 pm PT to close out play at the Big Island Holiday Classic. WWU returns to conference play January 2 with a road game at Western Oregon (2 pm) and at Saint Martin's on January 4 (3 pm). The Vikings next home games are scheduled for January 9 vs. Northwest Nazarene and January 11 vs. Central Washington. The complete season schedule, complete with links on how to watch the games, can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/WBB.

Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and Hawai'i Hilo:

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2024-25 season:

The Vikings improved to 3-0 all-time vs. Hawai'i Hilo with Friday's 66-62 victory marking the first meeting between the two schools since 2009.

WWU head coach Carmen Dolfo is approaching another career milestone only three wins from 700 for her career. In 34 seasons leading the program Dolfo has accumulated 697 wins and has a .723 winning percentage (697-266). Here are a few fun facts about Dolfo approaching 700 career wins:

·         Among all-time NCAA Division II women's basketball head coaches, only 12 have reached the 700-win mark.

·         Among active NCAA II women's basketball head coaches, only 4 have reached the 700-win mark.

·         Only 43 head coaches at all levels of NCAA women's basketball have reached 700 career wins.

·         Dolfo is set to become the 17th active women's basketball head coach with 700 career wins.

Here is a look at updated scores from around the GNAC this week:

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2024-25 season following four-point win at Hawai'i Hilo:

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in 11 of the last 14 full seasons, and 38 times in the 53-year history of the program. WWU has 24 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 697 (3 from 700), winning percentage and 20-win seasons. The Vikings have reached the NCAA II Tournament in 20 of 25 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 1,129 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.