Women's Basketball | 2/24/2009 3:57:41 PM

[Complete release]

This week...
The Western Oregon University women's basketball team will begin a three-game home stand as it faces Northwest Nazarene Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7:00 p.m., and Seattle Pacific Saturday, Feb. 28, at 2:00 p.m.

Northwest Nazarene preview...
Northwest Nazarene will enter the game at 15-8 and tied for third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with an 8-4 record. In their last game, the Crusaders knocked off No. 1 nationally ranked Alaska Anchorage 71-48.

In the win over UAA, Kristin Hein grabbed 12 rebounds and scored 21 points, including going 5-of-5 from three-point range and was named the co-GNAC Player of the Week. Brittney Roggenkamp leads NNU with 13 points per game and a 50.2 field goal percentage, she ranks fifth and fourth in the GNAC in those categories, respectively. Mallory Whipple is second in the conference with 5.13 assists per game. She also ranks third in the GNAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.97) and 10th in free throw percentage (78.2). As a team, NNU leads the league in steals (11.13), turnover margin (+3.39) and offensive rebounds (15). The Crusaders also rank second in scoring margin (+10.7) and rebounding margin (+4.6).

Western Oregon continues to lead the all-time series 35-26 but has lost six straight games to NNU including an 84-49 loss earlier this season (Jan. 15) in Nampa, Idaho. In the game, Northwest Nazarene jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first four minutes and put the pedal to the metal from there on its way to an 84-49 win. NNU never trailed in the contest and blasted out to a 32-point lead at halftime (51-19). The hosts would lead by as many as 39 points before settling for the final 35-point margin. Junior forward Katie Torland scored nearly half of Western Oregon points, finishing with 22. She also paced the Wolves with seven rebounds. Sara Zahler hit a pair of three-pointers and finished with eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

Seattle Pacific preview...
The Seattle Pacific Falcons are ranked No. 2 in the NCAA west region (Feb. 17). SPU is 18-4 this season and tied for first in the GNAC with an 11-2 record. Last Thursday (Feb. 19), the Falcons snapped No. 1 Alaska Anchorage's 22-game winning steak as they defeated the Seawolves 54-42 in Seattle.

Kelsey Hill was named the co-GNAC Player of the Week (along with Hein) after leading SPU with 21 points and 13 rebounds in its 54-42 upset of Alaska Anchorage. Hill is ranked in the GNAC in field goal percentage (second, 50.5), rebounds (eighth, 7.1) and scoring (15th, 10.7). Daesha Henderson ranks second in the conference with 3.09 steals per game, third with a 50.3 field goal percentage and fourth with 3.95 assists. Kelsey Burns is the Falcons leading scorer, ranking ninth in the GNAC with 12.3 ppg. She also ranks ninth with a 40.5 three-point percentage and 12th with a 45.6 field goal percentage. As a team, SPU leads the GNAC in field goal percentage (43.7) and assists (18.23) while ranking second in scoring defense (58.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.01).

Seattle Pacific leads the all-time series 24-4. Western Oregon lost the first game of the series during the 1976-77 season, but then won four straight over Seattle Pacific from 1977-82. However, WOU has dropped the past 23 straight games to SPU including a 65-48 loss earlier this season (Feb. 12). In the game, the No. 17 ranked Seattle Pacific Falcons used a 13-2 run to open the second half to earn the 65-48 victory. Seattle Pacific hit five of its first six shots in the second half to break a 28-28 halftime score. SPU was aided by seven Western Oregon turnovers and three missed field goals during its 13-2 run. Katie Torland registered her fourth double-double of the season for WOU with a game-best 21 points and 10 rebounds. She went 7-of-15 from the field including four of six from three-point range. Erika Wilson was the Wolves only other double-digit scorer with 13. Hill led three Falcon players in double-figures with 15 points.

The Western Oregon Wolves...
Katie Torland is ranked second in the GNAC with 17.2 ppg and ninth with 7.1 rpg. She is one of two players in the GNAC averaging over 14 ppg. She is also averaging two assists and 1.01 steals to lead the Wolves in all four categories. Torland also ranks in the top 10 in the GNAC in minutes (third, 31.52) and free throw percentage (eighth, 79.3). Torland has scored in double-figures in 21 of 23 games this season. She notched a double-double against Seattle Pacific (Feb. 12), with 21 points and 10 rebounds, her fourth of the year...Sara Zahler is averaging 8.7 ppg and 4.3 rebounds. She slipped to third place in the GNAC in three-point percentage at 55.3 percent. She has converted on 42-of-76 attempts from behind the arc this season. She also ranks fifth in the conference with an 83.8 free throw percentage, sixth with 1.83 treys per game and 14th with a 45.2 field goal percentage. She has made at least one three-pointer in the past six games and in nine of the last 10...Whitney Chase is putting up 8.5 ppg while averaging 23.1 minutes. This year, she has shot 75.3 percent at the free throw line and 43.5 percent from the field. Chase has nine double-figure scoring games this season....Shayla Corder is averaging 7.2 points and 1.01 steals per game. Corder has started five of the past six games and has averaged 11.4 ppg.

Other Western Oregon notes...
The Wolves rank 24th in NCAA DII with a 37.3 three-point percentage and 45th with a 74.7 free throw percentage...WOU ranks second in the GNAC in free throw percentage and third in three-point percentage...11 of Western Oregon's 15 losses have come against teams ranked in the top eight in the west region or DI opponents...The Wolves defeated the west region's No. 7 team, Montana State Billings at home 68-64, Jan 17...The Wolves are 6-3 this season when scoring more than 70 points...WOU is 7-0 this season when shooting a better field goal percentage than its opponents and 6-3 when shooting a better percentage from the three-point line...This year's squad made history when it earned three victories in its first six games against NCAA Division II opponents, this is the first time that has happened since WOU moved to DII in 2000-01…Western Oregon has competed in its toughest schedule as a DII team, by playing 21 of its 22 games against DI or DII opponents…WOU has outrebounded its opponents in seven of its eight wins.

Last week...
The Western Oregon University women's basketball team could not overcome a late 18-5 run by Western Washington as it fell on the road 83-67. Katie Torland led all scorers with 22 points but was limited to just two rebounds, matching her season-low. Shayla Corder registered 14 points for the Wolves as she went 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 at the line. Whitney Chase and Sara Zahler both chipped in with 10 points apiece and Chase led WOU with six boards. Amanda Dunbar put up 21 points for the Vikings in the win. After falling behind by as many as 13 in the first half the Wolves fought back to be down just five at the half at 37-32. Western Oregon then opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take the lead at 39-37. The Vikings would then make a 13-4 run to recapture the lead which it would never relinquish. Western Oregon would cut it to eight points at 58-50 but WWU answered with an 18-5 run to seal the game. “I was really proud of our effort today,” said Western Oregon head coach Greg Bruce. “Everyone came to play today. Our girls went with the game plan and our competitiveness was unbelievable.”