AZUSA, Calif. – Led by a 22-point, 11-rebound by senior forward Brooke Walling, the Western Washington University women's basketball team opened their 2024 NCAA Tournament run with a 66-61 victory over the Cal Poly Pomona Friday afternoon in the West Regional Quarterfinal inside the Felix Event Center on the campus of Azusa Pacific University.

 

With the win, the No. 3 seeded Vikings advance to Saturday's regional semifinal round where they will take on No. 2 Cal State San Marcos, an 82-61 winner over No. 7 Point Loma in the second quarterfinal game. WWU and CSUSM will face off at 5 pm Saturday with a spot in the regional championship game on the line.

 

The Vikings (26-4) faced a tough matchup going up against the No. 6 seed Cal Poly Pomona Broncos. Western held their largest lead early in the second quarter at 25-14, but the Broncos would outscore the Vikings 16-8 to pull within 33-30 just before the half. A three-pointer by freshman guard Demi Dykstra with three seconds on the clock took the Viks into the half up 36-30. Dykstra would finish the game with nine points on 3-for-4 shooting, including 2-2 from beyond-the-arc in 16 minutes of play providing a pivotal boost for the Vikings off the bench.

 

"I thought it was a great game. Pomona came in and they played great and they pressured us and played so hard. We feel fortunate to get this win, but I think it was our defense that really helped us today and I think we did a good job getting the ball inside," said WWU head coach Carmen Dolfo. "I felt like we were playing on our heels and playing tentative in the third quarter instead of attacking the basket. Once we started going inside and attacking the basket more we started finding results."
 

The NCAA Tournament is where you lean on your seniors and the Vikings have a pretty good one in Walling.

The Senior All-American and All-West Region player scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half, carrying the Vikings through a back-and-forth 3rd quarter and fueling an early 9-0 4th quarter run to give the Vikings a 59-50 lead with just over six minutes remaining.

 

The Broncos refused to back down, answering with a 7-0 run of their own to pull within just two at the 3:59 mark. The Vikings would buckle down, hitting 5-of-8 free throws down the stretch and earn the five-point victory and trip to the semifinals.

Walling finished with her 14th double-double of the season on 9-for-12 shooting, also contributing a team-high five assists to go with the 11 rebounds. 

 

WWU's post play dominated the contest with junior forward Aspen Garrison scoring 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, also grabbing six rebounds. The Vikings held a 37-33 advantage over CPP and out-scored the Broncos 30-22 in the paint.

 

The Broncos were led by Kalaya Buggs who finished with 17-points, 5-rebounds, 5-assists and 5-steals. Jeanette Fine (13), Sydney Nelson (12) and Breanne Ha (12) also finished with double digits. The Broncos finished the year 20-10.

 

WWU will take on No. 2 seed Cal State San Marcos in Saturday's 5 pm regional semifinal inside the Felix Event Center in Azusa, California. San Marcos defeated Point Loma 82-61. WWU and Cal State San Marcos met earlier this season at the Cougar Shootout in the same gym the two teams will play in Saturday night, with the Cougars defeating the Vikings 73-68.

 

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Azusa, CA  |  Felix Event Center  |  Host: Azusa Pacific

Friday, March 15 - Quarterfinals

#3 Western Washington 66,  #6 Cal Poly Pomona 61 #2 Cal State San Marcos 82, #7 Point Loma 61 #1 Azusa Pacific (28-3) vs. #8 Cal State LA (17-12), 5:00 pm #4 Montana State Billings (26-6) vs. #5 Chico State (21-9), 7:30 pm

Saturday, March 16 - Semifinals

#2 Cal State San Marcos vs #3 Western Washington, 5:00 pm APU/CSLA winner vs MSUB/CSU winner, 7:30 pm

Monday, March 18 – Regional Final

Championship Game, 7:00 pm West Regional champion advances to Elite Eight in St. Joseph, Missouri - March 25-29

 

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

 

 

Senior forward Brooke Walling was selected as the WECU Player of the Game following her 22-point, 11-rebound double-double. Walling reached the 20-point mark for the eighth time this season with Friday's performance fueled by 9-for-12 shooting from the field. Walling also tallied a team-high five assists.

  

The Vikings are making their 20th NCAA Championships appearance in 25 possible seasons (since 1998-99) and fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA West Regional Tournament. WWU has advanced to the postseason (conference, regional, NCAA) in 49 of 52 possible seasons of program history and has won three regional championships to advance to the Elite Eight in 2000 (Pine Bluff, Arkansas), 2013 (San Antonio, TX) and 2022 (Birmingham, AL). The Vikings own an all-time 21-18 record in NCAA tournament play, recording at least one win in 12 of 19 prior regional appearances (with a game played). Below is a game-by-game listing of WWU in NCAA Tournament play with the regional host site listed next to the year:

 

1998-99 (Davis, CA): 

Defeated Seattle Pacific, 77-69 (OT) 

Lost to Montana State Billings, 70-48 

 

1999-2000 (Pomona, CA):

Defeated Alaska Anchorage, 78-59 

Defeated Cal Poly Pomona, 84-66 

Defeated Slippery Rock, 84-67 – Elite Eight

Lost to Northern Kentucky, 80-74 – Final Four 

 

2000-01 (Pomona, CA): 

Defeated Central Washington, 74-66 

Lost to Cal Poly Pomona, 91-85 

 

2001-02 (Pomona, CA):

Defeated Sonoma State, 71-60 

Lost to Cal Poly Pomona, 71-70 

 

2002-03 (Seattle, WA):

Lost to Northwest Nazarene, 83-79 

 

2003-04 (Seattle, WA):

Defeated Sonoma State, 85-71 

Lost to Seattle Pacific, 80-66 

 

2004-05 (Seattle, WA):

Defeated CSU Dominguez Hills, 82-74 (OT) 

Lost to Chico State, 85-75 

 

2005-06 (Bellingham, WA):

Defeated Northwest Nazarene, 66-54 

Lost to Seattle Pacific, 70-50 

 

2006-07 (La Jolla, CA):

Lost to UC San Diego, 78-45 

 

2008-09 (Seattle, WA):

Lost to Humboldt State, 74-64 

 

2009-10 (Seattle, WA):

Lost to Chico State, lost 79-68 

 

2010-11 (Pomona, CA):

Lost to Alaska Anchorage, 55-48 

 

2011-12 (La Jolla, CA):

Defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, 65-58 

Lost to UC San Diego, 81-66 

 

2012-13 (Bellingham, WA):

Defeated Academy of Art, 70-50 

Defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, 71-63 

Defeated Simon Fraser, 75-58 

Defeated Nova Southeastern, 80-76 (OT) – Elite Eight

Lost to Ashland, 66-54 – Final Four 

 

2013-14 (Pomona, CA):

Lost to Simon Fraser, 77-70

 

2016-17 (Anchorage, AK):

Defeated Cal State East Bay, 74-48

Lost to Cal Baptist, 80-68

 

2019-20 (Honolulu, HI):

vs. Alaska Anchorage, DNP (COVID-19)

 

2021-22 (Hayward, CA):

Defeated Alaska Anchorage, 76-64

Defeated Central Washington, 64-58

Defeated Cal State East Bay, 73-59 – West Regional Final

Defeated Valdosta State, 58-55 – Elite Eight

Defeated North Georgia, 74-68 – Final Four

Lost to Glenville State, 85-72 – National Championship Game

 

2022-23 (Carson, CA):

Lost to Azusa Pacific, 62-46

 

2023-24 (Azusa, CA):

Defeated Cal Poly Pomona, 66-61

vs. Cal State San Marcos (March 16, 5 pm)

 

The Vikings improved to 8-9 all-time vs. Cal Poly Pomona while playing the Broncos for the first time since 2008. WWU is 5-1 vs. CPP in the last six meetings and is now 2-2 all-time vs. the Broncos in NCAA Championships play.

 

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

 

 

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2023-24 season following the five-point victory over Cal Poly Pomona:

 

 

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 690, 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 1,123 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.