ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The No. 19 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's basketball team completed a regular-season sweep over in-state rival Central Washington University Saturday with a 69-60 victory inside Nicholson Pavilion.

WWU was led by a career-high 30-point performance by junior guard Riley Dykstra, who was 11-for-16 shooting in the game and scored 23 of her 30 points in the second half. Dykstra becomes the first Viking to reach the 30-point scoring mark in a game since All-American Taylor Peacocke in 2017. In addition to the big scoring second half, Dykstra was perfect at the free throw line going 7-for-7 and 6-for-6 down the stretch at the charity stripe.

With the nine-point road victory, WWU improves to 19-4 overall and 11-2 in GNAC play, inching towards an official bid to the GNAC Championships Tournament that will be played March 7-9 in Ellensburg. WWU is also just one win short of a 38th 20-win season in 53 years of program history. 

In addition to Dykstra's historic performance, senior All-American forward Brooke Walling scored 15 points on 7-for-15 shooting and recorded a team-high seven rebounds. Walling went down momentarily in the first quarter with an ankle injury, but came back in the second quarter and promptly scored eight consecutive points for the Vikings.

WWU led 32-25 at the half and built a 12-point advantage at 61-49 with 2:42 remaining in the final quarter. CWU had cut the lead to three points at 52-49 using a 7-0 run, but the Vikings answered on a 9-0 run to build the big lead. Another CWU 6-0 run pulled the Wildcats to within two possessions, but Dykstra iced the game going 6-for-6 at the free throw line down the stretch.

CWU (15-10, 6-7 GNAC) was led by 21 points from Valerie Huerta and a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double by Asher Cai. CWU out-rebounded WWU 42-32, including a 15-9 advantage in offensive rebounds, but Western held the strong edge with the inside game out-scoring CWU 40-22 in the paint. WWU's defense limited the Wildcats to 35.7-percent shooting (20-for-56) and 5-for-19 from beyond the arc (.263).

The Vikings (19-4, 11-2 GNAC) return home for the final two regular-season games in Carver Gym, hosting Western Oregon on Thursday and Saint Martin's on Saturday in 7 pm games. Saturday's game will be Senior Night with the Vikings celebrating seniors Brooke Walling and Steph Peterson in their final home game in Carver Gym. The complete season schedule, complete with links on how to watch the games, can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/WBB.

Riley Dykstra scored a career-high 30 points on 11-for-16 shooting to earn the WECU Player of the Game. Dykstra scored 23 of her 30 points in the second half to lead the Vikings to the nine-point road victory over the Wildcats.

W🏀| WECU Player of the Game

With a career-high 30 points including going 6-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute of the game, Riley Dykstra is your WECU Player of the Game! pic.twitter.com/YxVM6Ix226
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) February 11, 2024
  

Riley Dykstra not only scored a career-high 30 points, but became the first Viking to reach the 30-point single-game scoring milestone since All-American Taylor Peacocke in 2017. Dykstra's 30-point effort is the 38th in program history.

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

The Vikings recorded the regular-season sweep of the Wildcats also winning 100-75 on January 11 in Carver Gym. WWU has won the last five games in the series and six of the last seven meetings overall. Western leads the all-time series over Central 103-17 with a 14-7 advantage in the last 21 meetings dating back to the 2015-16 season. 

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

Here is an updated look at the 2023-24 GNAC Women's Basketball standings following Saturday's games:

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2023-24 season following nine-point win over CWU in Ellensburg:

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 686, 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 1,118 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.