LACEY, Wash. – Led by a fourth consecutive double-double from senior Olivia Wikstrom, the Western Washington University women's basketball completed a 2-0 road trip defeating Saint Martin's University 63-50 Saturday afternoon inside Marcus Pavilion.

The Vikings improved to 8-5 overall and moved into 3rd place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a 3-1 league record. WWU has won its last three conference games and seven of the last nine overall. Saturday's victory over Saint Martin's also marked No. 699 in the 34-year head coaching career of Carmen Dolfo, moving one win to 700.

Two days after holding Western Oregon to 30 points in a 63-30 victory in Monmouth, Oregon, the Vikings again put together a solid defensive performance limiting Saint Martin's to 26.2-percent shooting from the field (16-for-61).

Wikstrom led the Vikings with 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season and fourth in a row. The senior guard was 7-for-19 shooting and had a team-high four steals. Junior guard Mason Oberg added 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting and dished out a career-high seven assists. 

Junior forward Alyson Deaver continued her solid season scoring in double-digits for the 12th time in 13 games with 10 points, four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Junior guard Anna VanderYacht, also a member of the WWU Volleyball team, contributed 13 key minutes with solid defensive play recording five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Saint Martin's dropped to 8-4 overall and 1-3 in conference play. Kiana Rios tied for the game high with 18 points on 5-for-17 shooting and recorded team highs with seven rebounds and four assists. Kasey Booster added 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting from three-point range.

WWU led by as many as 19 points late in the third quarter, but the Saints chipped away at the deficit trailing by single digits with just over a minute to play. The Vikings clinched the 13-point road victory going 7-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch.

Saint Martin's cut the deficit to four points at 21-17 midway through the second half following a three-point play, but the Vikings responded with a 10-0 run to take a 31-17 lead and finished the first half leading 35-21. Mason Oberg concluded the half with an off-balance buzzer-beater to give the Vikings the 14-point halftime lead.

The Vikings (8-5, 3-1 GNAC) are back at home in Carver Gym next week with a pair of GNAC games on WECU Court hosting Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday, both featuring a 7 pm tip-off on WECU Court in Carver Gym. 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 Saint Martin's:

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

WWU defeated the Saints by 13 points in the first meeting of the season series…SMU travels to play in Bellingham on January 30…WWU swept the season series vs. SMU last season winning 52-49 on the road and 85-63 on Senior Night at home…Vikings have a current 9-game winning streak against the Saints and have won 34 of the last 35 meetings in the series dating back to 2008…WWU leads the all-time series 59-3 with a 28-3 record vs. SMU inside Marcus Pavilion.

WWU head coach Carmen Dolfo is approaching another career milestone only one win from 700 for her career. In 34 seasons leading the program Dolfo has accumulated 699 wins and has a .724 winning percentage (699-267). Here are a few fun facts about Dolfo approaching 700 career wins:

• Among all-time NCAA Division II women's basketball head coaches, only 12 have reached the 700-win mark.
• Among active NCAA II women's basketball head coaches, only 4 have reached the 700-win mark.
• Only 43 head coaches at all levels of NCAA women's basketball have reached 700 career wins.
• Dolfo is set to become the 17th active women's basketball head coach with 700 career wins.

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 13-point victory at Saint Martin's:

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 699 (1 win from 700), 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 1,131 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.