ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Western Washington University women's basketball team gave first-place Alaska Anchorage all they could handle Saturday in GNAC play, but the Seawolves had a strong fourth quarter to defeat the Vikings 67-59 inside the Alaska Airlines Center.

WWU trailed by two points 54-52 early in the fourth quarter prior to the Seawolves holding the Vikings to nine points in the final quarter to earn the eight-point victory to remain undefeated in conference play at 7-0 and 16-2 overall. The Vikings slipped to 10-7 overall and moved to 5th place in the GNAC standings at 5-3.

After being out-scored 20-10 in the opening quarter, the Viking out-scored the Seawolves 49-47 in the remaining three quarters of play. 

Senior guard Olivia Wikstrom scored a single-game career-high 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting while connecting on 6-of-8 three-point field goals. She also grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Junior forward Alyson Deaver and senior guard Maddy Grandbois each had 11 points. Sophomore guard Demi Dykstra totaled nine points and eight assists. Making her first start of the season after making her debut Thursday at Alaska Fairbanks, sophomore guard Libby Stump contributed four points. All 59 points by the Vikings came from the starting five.

UAA featured five players scoring in double-digits led by a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double by Tori Hollingshead and 12 points from Elaina Mack. The Seawolves held a 43-21 advantage in rebounding over the Vikings with a 17-9 advantage in offensive boards.

The Vikings pulled to within two points following a Libby Stump layup at the 9:04 mark in the fourth quarter (54-52), but UAA scored nine of the next 13 points to take a 63-56 lead. An Olivia Wikstrom three-pointer cut the deficit to four points at the 2:05 mark, but the Seawolves scored the final four points on layups by Tori Hollingshead to gain the eight-point victory.

Anchorage came out with a solid first quarter, using a 13-0 run to take a 20-10 lead through the first 10 minutes. WWU answered with a great quarter of its own out-scoring the Seawolves 20-11 in the second frame to trail 31-30 at the half. The second-half comeback was fueled by 8-for-16 shooting, with 4-for-6 accuracy from beyond the arc. Olivia Wikstrom led the Vikings with 11 points in the second quarter. The Vikings defense limited UAA to 4-for-12 shooting in the second quarter, after going 7-for-18 in the first quarter.

The Vikings (10-7, 5-3 GNAC) remain on the road next week playing only one game crossing the border to take on Simon Fraser University (10-7, 3-5 GNAC) on Saturday with tip-off at 5:15 pm on Burnaby Mounting. The complete season schedule, 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 Alaska Anchorage:

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

WWU and UAA will meet again in Bellingham on February 13. The Vikings lead the all-time series 36-31 with a 6-3 record in the last nine games. UAA has won the last three GNAC regular-season matchups, with WWU defeating the Seawolves in last year's GNAC Championships semifinal.

Here is a look at the 2024-25 GNAC Women's Basketball standings and overall records following Saturday's games. Updated standings and conference statistics can be viewed online at GNACSports.com. The top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the GNAC Championships held March 6-8 in Lacey:

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2024-25 season following Saturday's loss at Alaska Anchorage:

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 701, 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 1,133 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.