BURNABY, B.C. – The Western Washington University women's basketball team had a good look at a last-second game-winner, but came up one point short in a 68-67 loss against Simon Fraser University Saturday evening in the regular-season finale in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.

 

WWU finished the regular season with a 21-6 overall record and placed 2nd in the GNAC at 14-4 to earn the No. 2 seed in next week's conference championships tournament in Ellensburg, Washington. SFU improved to 10-8 in conference play and 17-13 overall to earn the No. 5 seed.

 

The Vikings will open the postseason next Friday at noon in the semifinal round of the GNAC Championships in Ellensburg, facing the winner of the Seattle Pacific vs. Alaska Anchorage Thursday quarterfinal. 

 

Trailing 68-67 with nine seconds remaining, Western had a pair of shots in the final seconds that were tightly contested by SFU to give the Red Leafs the one-point home victory on Senior Night.

 

The game featured 10 lead changes and 11 ties, with a 35-35 tie score at halftime and 52-52 through the first three quarters. SFU built an eight-point lead with a quick start to the fourth quarter, but the Vikings pulled to within one point by scoring the final seven points of the game.

 

WWU was led by 16 points and nine rebounds by senior forward Brooke Walling (6-for-15 FG) and 14 points and seven rebounds by junior guard Riley Dykstra (6-for-12 FG). Sophomore guard Mason Oberg added 12 points and was 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Western was limited to 38.1-percent shooting from the field (24-for-63) for the third-lowest shooting performance of the season.

 

SFU featured three players scoring in double-digits led by a game-high 17 points by Sophia Wisotzki on 6-for-24 shooting. Grace Killins added 15 points and five rebounds and Arman Dulai had 12 points and five boards.

 

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team holding a lead greater than six. Junior guard Mason Oberg paced the Viking scoring in the first twenty minutes, pouring in nine points including going 4-4 from the free-throw line. A 9-0 Western run put the Vikings up 35-32 in the closing minutes of the first half, but Simon Fraser hit a three-pointer with :05 left to end the half in a 35-35 tie.

 

The second half saw more of the same from the two teams, with neither able to take any sort of command of the game until 16-6 fourth-quarter run by Simon Fraser put them up 68-60 with 3:25 left in the game. The Vikings showed their championship mettle however, going on a 7-0 run that was punctuated by a big three-pointer by Junior guard Olivia Wikstrom with 38 seconds left to play. Wikstrom's trey pulled the Viks within in one point at 68-67. Western put up a defensive stop on the other end and had two attempts to win the game but saw neither find the bottom of the net giving the Red Leafs the home court Senior Night win.

 

The Vikings (21-6, 14-4 GNAC) will be the No. 2 seed in the GNAC Championships and will play in the semifinal round on Friday, March 8 in Ellensburg after a first-round bye. Tickets for the GNAC Championships are available online for purchase at www.gnactickets.com. 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 GNAC Championships schedule with the three-day tournament held March 7-9 inside Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg. WWU will play the winner of the Seattle Pacific vs. Alaska Anchorage game on Thursday in the first semifinal on Friday (March 8) at noon. More info is available on the championships at GNACSports.com. All GNAC Championships games will stream live online via YouTube at GNAC.tv.

 

Thursday, March 7:

Quarterfinal 1: 12 pm – No. 3 Seed Alaska Anchorage vs. No. 6 Seed Seattle Pacific

Quarterfinal 2: 2:15 pm – No. 4 Seed Central Washington vs. No. 5 Seed Simon Fraser

Friday, March 8:

Semifinal 1: 12 pm – No. 2 Seed Western Washington vs. Winner of Quarterfinal 1

Semifinal 2: 2:15 pm – No. 1 Seed Montana State Billings vs. Winner of Quarterfinal 2

Saturday, March 9:

5 pm – Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2

 

Senior Brooke Walling was selected as the WECU Player of the Game leading the Vikings with 16 points and nine rebounds. Walling went 6-for-15 from the field and 4-for-6 from the free throw line. She scored in double-digits for the 25th time in 27 regular-season games and heads into the postseason averaging a team-best 16.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

 

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

 

 

WWU and SFU split the season series with each team winning on its home floor. The Vikings defeated the Red Leafs 64-57 in the GNAC opener in early December. WWU leads the all-time series 56-38 with a 23-8 record since SFU joined the NCAA in 2010-11. 

 

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

 

 

Here is a look at the final standings from the 2023-24 GNAC regular season, with WWU finishing in 2nd place after winning back-to-back titles. The top six teams in the standings following the regular season will qualify for the GNAC Championships held March 7-9 in Ellensburg. Updated standings and conference statistics can be viewed online at GNACSports.com:

 

 

WWU clinched one of the six spot sin the GNAC Championships that will be held March 7-9 inside Nicholson Pavilion in Ellensburg, and also earned a first round bye after finishing 2nd during the regular season. Western is the defending champion of the event beating Montana State Billings 76-71 in the championship game in Carver Gym marking the first home team – men or women – to win the title on its home court in the 12-year history of the event. The Vikings are 17-8 all-time in the GNAC Championships with three titles, advancing to play in the postseason tournament in 11 of 12 possible seasons (nine championship games). 

 

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2023-24 season following the one-point loss at SFU:

 

 

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 688, 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 1,120 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.