NAMPA, Idaho – The No. 19 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's basketball team knows any time you go on the road in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference it is going to be a battle…and they got just that Thursday in a 91-84 overtime victory over Northwest Nazarene.

WWU led the entire game and at one point midway through the second quarter had a 16-point advantage, but the home Nighthawks surged in the second half to tie the game 73-73 to force overtime.

The Vikings opened the extra frame scoring the first eight points, including back-to-back three-pointers by junior guard Maddy Grandbois, en route to the seven-point victory to improve to 18-4 overall and 10-2 in GNAC play.

Western scored all 91 of its points by seven players, all reaching double-digits in scoring. Junior guard Riley Dykstra led the Vikings with 17 points and eight rebounds, also dishing out five assists. Junior forward Aspen Garrison added 15 points and senior All-American Brooke Walling tallied 14 points, six assists, five rebounds, one block and one steal. 

Also reaching double-digits in scoring was Grandbois (14 points), junior guard Olivia Wikstrom (11 points), senior guard Steph Peterson (10 points) and sophomore guard Mason Oberg (10 points). Peterson connected on a free throw for the Vikings final point of the game, marking the 1,00th point in her collegiate career. 

WWU combined to shoot 47.1-percent for the game (32-for-68) and was 9-for-24 from three-point range (.375). The Vikings were efficient from the free throw line going 18-for-21 from the charity stripe, including 8-for-10 in overtime.

NNU (8-11, 5-7 GNAC) was led by a game-high 25 points by Hilary James (10-for-18 FG) and 16 points each by Madeline Gebers and Kendall Clark. The Nighthawks out-scored the Vikings 39-29 in the second half, including a 17-12 advantage in the fourth quarter, to force the overtime period.

Maddy Grandbois hit a pair of three-pointers to open the overtime period and WWU scored the first eight points of the frame to jump out to an 81-73 advantage. NNU went on a 7-3 run to pull to within four points at 84-80, but Western made seven of its last eight free throw attempts to hold off the Nighthawks.

The Vikings held a 10-point 44-34 lead at halftime, fueled by 11 points from Aspen Garrison (4-for-6 FG) and the team shooting 51.4-percent (18-for-35). Riley Dykstra added nine points and Mason Oberg had eight points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Western led by as many as 16 points at 33-17 midway through the second quarter

With a free throw late in overtime, senior Steph Peterson reached the 1000-point mark for her collegiate career, which spans 123 games at Cameron University and WWU. Peterson finished with 10 points and now has exactly 1,000 points in her collegiate career (237 in 50 games as a Viking).

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Junior guard Maddy Grandbois was selected as the WECU Player of the Game scoring 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting, with none bigger than her back-to-back three-pointers to open the overtime period. Grandbois added six rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in the overtime win over the Nighthawks.

The Vikings (18-4, 10-2 GNAC) remain on the road Saturday taking on in-state rival Central Washington with tip-off inside Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg at 4 pm. 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 Vikings record breakdown for the 2023-24 season:

The Vikings recorded the regular season sweep over the Nighthawks also winning 88-60 on January 13 in Bellingham. WWU now leads the all-time series 36-17 with an active four-game winning streak. Western also improved to 14-9 when playing NNU on the road, with the Vikings winning three of the last four games in Nampa.

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

Here is an updated look at the 2023-24 GNAC Women's Basketball standings following Thursday's games. WWU slipped into the second spot in the standings at 9-2 in conference play.

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2023-24 season following the seven-point overtime victory over NNU:

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 685, 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 1,117 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.