On March 25, 2022, the Western Washington University women's basketball team faced off with Glenville State (West Virginia) at Birmingham, Alabama, for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II national championship.
 
Shown live on the CBS Sports Network, the contest was an historic milestone for the tradition rich Pacific Northwest program, being its first with a national title on the line.
 
The 2021-22 season marked the third time Western had gotten to the NCAA II Elite Eight, each time getting at least to the final four.
 
The Vikings reached the semifinals in 2000, before being edged by Northern Kentucky, 80-74, at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. And in 2013, they got to the final four before falling to Ashland (Ohio), 66-54, at San Antonio, Texas. Both opponents went on to win their respective national titles.

In the 2022 national title encounter with Glenville State, Western led 46-44 at halftime, and trailed by just one point, 61-60, with 2:13 remaining in the third quarter. The Vikings eventually fell 85-72 to the No. 3 seed which entered the game with a 34-1 record and averaging a national-best 96 points per game.
 
Western, the No. 5 seed, reached the championship contest with Elite Eight upset wins over No. 4 seed Valdosta State GA, 58-55 in the quarterfinals, and No. 1 seed North Georgia, 74-68 in the semifinals.
 
WWU had gotten to the Elite Eight by winning the West Regional title held at Hayward, Calif., with victories over Alaska Anchorage, 76-64; Central Washington, 64-58; and host Cal State East Bay, 73-59.
 
It was the 18th NCAA regional tournament appearance and 44th post-season trip altogether for Western, which finished 25-6. The Vikings also had made three trips to nationals while a member of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women from 1972 to 1982 (10 post-season trips) and three to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics from 1983 to 1998 (16 post-season appearances).
 
In 2021-22, Western was led by senior guard Emma Duff (Tumwater/Black Hills) and sophomore forward Brooke Walling (Vancouver, WA/Prairie), a transfer from Division I Fresno State. Duff and Walling were each selected Elite Eight and regional all-tournament, with Walling earning MVP honors at regionals as she averaged 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds over the three-game span.
 
Duff posted a team-best season average of 15.6 points (7.0 rebounds), hitting 83.0 percent at the free throw line (114-of-139) while earning honorable mention Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America, second-team D2CCA all-West Region and first-team all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors. She ended her career at Western 10th all-time in points scored with 1,346.

   

Walling averaged 9.7 points along with team-bests of 7.6 rebounds and 24 blocked shots. Two years later, having twice been an honorable mention WBCA All-American, she finished 14th among WWU career leaders with 1,206 points. She also was top 10 in program history in field goal percentage (52.2), rebounds per game (8.7), and blocked shots (133).
 
"The year we went to the national championship had to be my favorite," said Walling. "Even though we didn't win the GNAC tournament and get to celebrate that like we did each of the two years after … the memories and accomplishments from that season will never compare."
 
"That year was definitely the toughest one (for me) as well. From Dani's (Iwami) career-ending injury to having games cancelled left and right from COVID, there were a lot of ups and downs," she continued. "However, the fact that we got to play until the very last day of the season meant that we got to spend even more time together and that is one of my favorite parts from that year because we always had the best time together. We would constantly be shopping or just hanging out and would be laughing 24/7.
 
"That post season run was definitely a break-through moment for me as a player because I finally was playing fearlessly and playing the way (Coach) Carm always knew I could. I just didn't believe in myself until that moment.
 
"I think that having that amazing post season was what helped me have a successful career at WWU because I not only got to play and learn from such an amazing group of upperclassmen, but I also proved to myself that I can do great things when I believe in myself.
 
"All three years I was at Western were the closest I've been with an entire team in all my years of basketball, especially the group of girls who were on the team that got to the national title game. It will forever be a year I will never forget!"
 
 
Head coach Carmen Dolfo, then in her 31st season at the Bellingham based school, directed the Vikings to the regular-season GNAC championship. That earned her conference Coach of the Year honors for the fifth time.
 
Junior guard Avery Dykstra (Everson/Lynden Christian), who averaged 6.4 points and 5.2 rebounds, was named second-team all-GNAC and GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, and her younger sister, Riley (Everson/Lynden Christian), who averaged 7.5 points and 2.6 assists, was given GNAC Freshman of the Year honors after working her way into the starting lineup halfway through the season. Riley Dykstra, junior guard Mollie Olson (Napavine), who averaged 7.2 points, and Walling each received GNAC honorable mention.
 
 
Other contributors were sophomore center Carley Zaragoza (6.3 ppg, El Dorado, CA/Union Mine), junior forward Katrina Gimmaka (4.7 ppg, Everson, Nooksack Valley), senior guard Gracie Castenada (Phelps) (3.5 ppg, Arlington), junior guard Monique Fierke (2.9 ppg, Monroe), freshman center Truitt Reilly (2.9 ppg, Silverton, OR) and freshman guard Maddy Grandbois (2.8 ppg, Marysville/Marysville Getchell).
 
Even before the 2021-22 season got underway, two of the three seniors on the squad were experiencing different kinds of anguish. Castenada was finishing up the second of two trials dealing with her childhood sexual abuse and Duff was working through the passing of her Uncle Todd, a loyal Western supporter and Bellingham local, following his battle with cancer.
 
Despite this trauma, the Vikings got off to a fast start, winning their first 10 games before suffering a loss in mid-January. That snapped a 16-game winning streak overall as Western had won all six of its games in the COVID-19 abbreviated 2020-21 campaign.
 
However, a far bigger loss for Western in that game was that of senior point guard and court leader Dani Iwami (Seal Beach, CA/Los Alamitos,  7.5 ppg in 12 games), who suffered a season-ending knee injury.  It was her second ACL injury and third season-ending injury.
 
Dolfo called the loss of Iwami the low point of the season.

"I remember thinking this can't be real," said Duff. "It felt so unfair for the person who loves basketball more than anyone I know to end her career this way. But Dani was the most unselfish teammate and became our biggest supporter."
 
"She was such a key for us and so huge, but the team rallied and Dani rallied for us," Dolfo said.
 
Rallying became a theme for the team all season.
 
With the pandemic still prevalent, there was constant COVID-19 testing. Six games were postponed and another cancelled, and fans weren't allowed to attend some games.
 
But the team never complained.
 
"There were just so many things to overcome," Dolfo recalled. "I remember so many times I would call the girls together in the team room and they'd come in kind of freaked out like, 'What's next?' It got to a point where they were just kind of numb to it."
 
Besides the COVID hurdles to withstand, there were also the basketball ones, like the Iwami injury and others, two overtime losses to Northwest Nazarene, the last at home as Western dropped two of its final three regular-season games prior to the GNAC postseason tournament.
 
Then the Vikings fell to Central in the conference tourney title game held at Lacey, giving the Wildcats an automatic berth to regionals. But because of its overall success and high regional ranking, Western received an at-large bid.
 
"We did not play well in the GNAC tournament," Dolfo said. "But we came back and refocused. We just bore down and made the changes we needed to. We got our good energy back and things started rolling at regionals."
 
"We got to the GNAC tournament and played maybe the worst games we had all season," said Duff. "We lost to Central in the tournament championship and I started to think about how I might have just one more game left in my career.
 
"But once we got to California, I felt like all the pressure was lifted." Duff continued. "We were not expected to win, we had gone through so much the entire season, even making it to regionals was a gift. I think back on that tournament as some of the most fun days I have ever had playing basketball.
 
"After beating Anchorage, we had to play Central again. That was a game I was not looking forward to, as we matched up with them for the fourth time that season. And everything seemed to be going wrong until the fourth quarter. I believe we were down seven points to start the quarter and immediately we go on a run to take the lead and that's when I knew we were not losing that game. Shout out to Brooke, I think this game was really when she became unstoppable for the rest of her career."
 
Western scored 10 unanswered points to start the final period and outscored Central 21-8 to close out the contest, holding the Wildcats to 3-for-19 field goal shooting and having a 17-6 rebound advantage. Walling finished with a career-high 19 points and Duff added 13 points and 11 rebounds.  
 
"I think for us, beating Central felt like the championship game," Duff explained, "but getting to cut down the nets after beating East Bay was one of the highlights of my career. I really just kept thinking 'This is insane, we get to keep playing.'
 
"And then fast forward to the Elite Eight, I truly did not feel any pressure through our first two games. I knew we were good, but no one expected us to even win the first one. The game against North Georgia to go to the national championship was one of the most fun games I have ever been a part of. The number of friends, family and alumni that were there to support us made me feel like there was no way we could possibly lose.
 
"We also were just having so much fun off the court, hanging out together in the hotel, going to dinners, watching film, we were just enjoying the moment.
 
"After beating North Georgia, I think we all just really wanted to win for Carmen. She is such a legendary coach who poured everything she had into us and we wanted a national championship on her resume."
 
But it was not meant to be.
 
"It still stings," Duff said, "but I know that all of us, including Carm, felt like there was nothing we would change about that year."
 
"The magic may have run out right there at the end but we really enjoyed the ride and I feel so proud of everyone on that team for what we were able to do. And now, as we reunite at weddings, alumni games, or other events, it feels like there is a special bond between all the people involved in that run. I am very grateful to have been a part of that season."
 
In all, the Vikings won five straight post-season games before succumbing to the high-powered offense and intense defensive pressure of Glenville State.  
 
Dolfo said that she could not have been prouder of her team for not only making it to the final, but for how the players dealt with everything along the way.
 
"They stayed focused on what they needed to do," she said. "They worked so hard and didn't complain. They saw the good in everything we were doing and in each other. I wish we could have gotten that final step, but to get where we did after all the things we'd gone through, it was very special."

 
 
During the season, Western played some of the best defense in the country, allowing opponents just 58.2 points per game and a field-goal percentage of only 34.8 percent, and just 24.3 percent from 3-point range.
 
The 2021-22 Vikings were 17-3 in road games and 6-2 at Carver Gym, playing the fewest home games in a season over the last 48 campaigns in program history (not counting 2020-21 COVID season).
 
Western also excelled academically, placing a program-best eight players among the GNAC all-academic selections. They were Zaragoza (3.88 GPA, Environmental Science), Avery Dykstra (3.70, Business Administration), Iwami (3.66, Environmental Science), Riley Dykstra (3.55, Elementary Education), Fierke (3.36, Public Health), Duff (3.33, Environmental Science), Castaneda (3.28, Elementary Education), and Olson (3.22, English). Iwami became the Vikings' first four-time GNAC academic honoree.

 
 

The winning season was the Vikings' 48th in 53 years entering the 2024-25 campaign and dating back to its beginning in 1971-72. Three of Western's six losses in 2021-22 came in overtime, two of those to Northwest Nazarene and the other to Simon Fraser.
 
Castaneda, who married Zach Phelps during the summer of 2022, appeared in a school-record-tying 126 career games with the Vikings, scoring 738 points. She was honored with the NCAA Inspiration Award in 2023. The award is presented to a coach or administrator currently associated with intercollegiate athletics or to a current or former varsity letter winner at an NCAA school. It honors those who used perseverance, dedication and determination to overcome a life-altering situation and become role models, giving hope and inspiration to others.
 

Gracie Phelps (Castaneda)
 
For Western's Gracie Phelps (Castaneda), sports have been a "saving grace" amid life's challenges.
 
"I felt really lucky and thankful that I got the opportunity to play here (Western)," Phelps said. "We had gone through so much together, and to make it to the national championship for that final season was a really special deal for us."
 
While the team had gone through a lot together on the court, off the court, Phelps had been struggling, too. Over the course of many years during her childhood, Gracie was sexually abused by her stepfather. Many years went by before she told anybody about what had happened to her.
 
Coach Dolfo was the first adult Phelps told with the intention of getting help.

Dolfo helped guide Phelps in what steps to take next on her path to healing, including getting her into counseling. The next step for Phelps was to tell her family. That led to Phelps reporting what had happened to police, and eventually going to court.
 
The first trial was held in the fall 2019. That trial ended in a hung jury. The second trial took place in late fall of 2021, Phelps' senior year. This time the trial ended in a conviction, and her abuser was charged and given a sentence of many years in prison.
 
"One of the biggest things that I learned throughout that entire process is how important it is to lean on the people that love you, lean on the people that are there for you and trust that things are happening for a reason," Phelps said. "It's really important to do your best to surround yourself with the people who are going to help lift you up and have your back in even the ugliest times. I was incredibly fortunate to have that in my team and my coaches at Western. Carmen will forever be one of the greatest things that happened to me. She pushed me (all of us) to a standard that was truly uncomfortable, but the absolute best thing for us. Nothing will come between the bond, support, and love we shared within the program, and continue to share many years later."
 
Phelps was honored with the 2023 NCAA Inspiration Award at the NCAA Honors Celebration in San Antonio. The award is presented to a coach or administrator currently associated with intercollegiate athletics or to a current or former varsity letter winner at an NCAA school. It honors those who used perseverance, dedication and determination to overcome a life-altering situation and become role models, giving hope and inspiration to others.
 
Through all the challenges, Phelps learned a lot about herself.
 
"I learned that I can't get through anything without a few things: my people, my outlets, and most importantly, my faith. I discovered the true power and love of God and my faith in 2019, the year of my first trial. I learned that no matter how ugly things may get, and hard they can feel, it is so important to lean into that pain and hurt because He is bigger than all of it.
 
"The first trial was really scary. The second trial was still really scary, but I felt stronger than ever because I surrendered to the fears I held onto. I leaned into the fact that I get to be my 100% authentic self, speak my truth, be bold about it, and know that whatever happens is meant to happen," she continued. "I also learned that it is not about me. Even though it felt like it should be, it still wasn't. I was given opportunities and people that allowed me to survive and graduate from Western, and now I've become a teacher and a coach in a community that I love while being married to my best friend.
 
"Not many people get that opportunity, and certainly not people that experienced similar things that I did. I feel that it is now my duty to give back to the communities that shaped me and to be a loving leader to the kids that I get to interact with every day. I love my life, my job, and my people, and I appreciate the hard moments I went through with my team because those moments have led me to where I am today."
 
Over her five-year Western career, Phelps played in a school-record tying 126 games, making 46 starts and averaging 5.9 points, 1.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game.
 
Phelps graduated from WWU after winter quarter of 2022, following a year as a full-time student teacher at Happy Valley Elementary School, while being the head girls basketball coach at Blaine High School.
 
"I really wanted to go into a field where I can serve and be in a position to give back to the communities that shaped me," Phelps said. "I'm really excited to make an impact on the kids' lives that I get to work with every single day."
 
Wanting to spread her message and inspire others to speak up, Phelps spoke at a gala for an organization that serves to help people who have gone through domestic violence and sexual assault. She hopes that others will speak out about their experiences, too.
 
"I spoke to inspire others going through similar hardships," Phelps continued. "I was hoping to help others share their story and feel strong and let them know that they're not alone. Nothing about sharing past abuse in your life is easy or fun, but the more it is talked about, the more normal and brave others feel in coming forward. There is a difference with being silent because of privacy and because of fear. The more we choose silence out of fear, the more power we give to our abusers. No one should keep this in and hold onto it out of fear or worry, it isn't fair to victims. Fairness is justice, it is peace and it is letting go and moving on."
 
Phelps is in her second year as the head girls high school basketball coach in the community she now lives in, and is in her second year as a fifth grade teacher there. 
 
Emma Duff
 
"I have a few things that stand out from the 2021-22 season. First, I feel like it is important to acknowledge that for the seniors on the team, Dani (Iwani), Gracie (Castenada/Phelps) and I, the year started out extremely difficult. During our preseason, Gracie was finishing up a court trial, finally getting the justice she deserved; and I was working through the passing of my Uncle Todd, a loyal Western supporter and Bellingham local, after his battle with cancer. It was definitely an emotional rollercoaster but we still somehow managed to start our season 10-0 and everything started to feel a bit lighter as we headed into Christmas."
 
"Then of course, we lost Dani to injury … Even though Dani was the most unselfish teammate for the rest of that year and became our biggest supporter, everything just felt harder and heavier not having her on the court. 
 
"But somehow we kept winning, kept rallying, and ended up securing a regular season championship."
 
Duff was named WWU's Female Athlete of the Year for 2021-22.
 
Following her Western career, Duff went to Germany to play for a year. Then she returned to Seattle where she is working for the Washington State Department of Ecology as an Environmental Specialist.
 
"I found some basketball opportunities and I've been having a lot of fun playing with some other Western alumni in the area, Hannah Stipanovich and Steph Peterson. I have also enjoyed being a WWU fan now, although I think I get even more nervous just watching!
 
Brooke Walling
 
Walling is in her first and final season playing professionally in Luxembourg, a small landlocked country in Western Europe.
 
Walling concluded her WWU career in 2023-24 averaging 16.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game during her senior season to earn first-team all-GNAC honors and honorable mention All-America status from the WBCA for the second consecutive year. She started every game for the 24-7 Vikings, recording 15 double-doubles and scoring double-digits in 29 of 31 games. In addition to her strong scoring and rebounding numbers, Walling ranked among the nation's best with a 58.3 field goal percentage connecting on 218-of-374 shots.

Over three seasons with the Vikings, Walling started 88 of 90 possible games averaging 13.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 55.2 percent (492-for-892) from the floor, and totaling 31 double-doubles. She finished with 1,206 points as a Viking to rank 14th in program history (eighth in scoring average), sixth in field goal percentage and ninth in blocked shots per game with a 1.5 average. Including parts of two seasons at Fresno State, Walling completed her collegiate career with 1,347 total points.
 
WWU combined to go 73-17 during Walling's time in the program, with three trips to the NCAA post-season and an historic run to the national title game during her first season in 2021-22. In nine career NCAA Tournament games, Walling averaged 18.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. With Walling on the floor, WWU won back-to-back regular-season GNAC titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and consecutive conference tournament championships in 2023 and 2024.
 
"Brooke was an amazing player during her career at WWU, but beyond that an even better teammate and leader," said Dolfo. "The stats and honors speak to all her accomplishments, but beyond that Brooke was a joy to coach and helped lead our program to some amazing team accomplishments."