Women's Basketball | 12/21/2013 4:47:00 PM

Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University women's basketball team completed 2013 with a 59-50 non-conference win over Simpson University (Calif.) Saturday.

The Wolves (4-6, 1-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) escaped with the win despite turning the ball over a season-high 30 times. WOU did force Simpson into 23 turnovers. The Wolves' defense also held SU to 29 percent shooting from the field.

"We escaped with a win tonight," WOU Head Coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said. "I'm glad we held on at the end, but disappointed in how we performed. We were out of sync pretty much the whole game and it really showed in the stats. Rarely do you win a game when you turn it over 30 times."

Western Oregon's Dana Goularte had game-highs of 16 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. The junior finished with double-digits for the 25th time in her career, and ninth time this season. She was 4-of-6 from the field from the field and 8-for-12 from the free throw line. Shyla Akins added 11 points and four steals.

Western Oregon made 20 of its 49 attempts from the field in the game. The Wolves made 5-of-13 from behind-the-arc and 14-of-27 from the free throw line. The Redhawks were 5-of-23 from three-point range and 11-for-18 from the free throw line. WOU had a 24-12 advantage in the paint.

The game featured only two ties and a pair of lead changes, and both were early in the contest. Three minutes into the game and the score was tied at four, but from there, the Wolves led the rest of the game. WOU took a 10-4 lead at the 11-minute mark of the first half. An Akins' three-pointer with 7:09 left in the half gave Western Oregon its largest lead in the opening stanza, 16-8. Simpson closed within one, 19-18, but WOU had a 25-21 halftime edge.

The teams combined for 29 turnovers in the first half, with the Redhawks committing 17. The teams also combined for 17 made field goals in the half.

The Wolves had their first double-digit lead a minute into the second half. An Elise Miller three-pointer stretched the margin to 14 points five minutes into the half. A pair of Angie Titus free throws increased the lead to 16 points with seven minutes left in regulation. Western Oregon's largest advantage was 55-38 with four minutes to play.

Nichole Jones entered the game as the Redhawks leading scorer, and she had a team-high 11 points Saturday. She made 4-of-13 from the field. Jones was also one of three Simpson players with five rebounds. Jones and Kaity Hahn both had four assists. Jones also made seven steals, but Tiffany Aaserude made eight steals, a season-high for a WOU opponent.

Western Oregon avenged a 77-74 setback to the Redhawks from last season. The Wolves have now won three of the four all-time meetings.

Western Oregon has a 12-day break between games for the holidays. The Wolves travel to their travel-partner Saint Martin's in Lacey, Wash., on Jan. 4. The Saints are off to a hot start winning seven of their first 10 games. SMU opened its GNAC schedule with a pair of wins, and has won its last four contests. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. with live video and stats on WOUWolves.com.

Simpson vs Western Oregon
12/21/13 2 p.m. at Monmouth, OR
At Monmouth, OR
WESTERN OREGON 59, SIMPSON 50
SIMPSON (6-7)
Jones,Nichole 4-13 3-6 11; Wofford,Esther 3-10 0-0 9; Hahn,Kaity 3-10 0-0 7;
Aaserude,Tiffany 2-12 2-2 7; Gallardo,Rianna 1-2 2-2 4; Lenik,Katie 1-3 2-4
4; Shubin,Kayla 2-3 0-0 4; Saylor,Hannah 0-1 2-2 2; Cox,Madison 1-2 0-2 2;
Ratfield,Katie 0-1 0-0 0; Menez,Karley 0-0 0-0 0; Shank,Melanie 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 17-57 11-18 50.
WESTERN OREGON (4-6, 1-1 GNAC)
Goularte,Dana 4-6 8-12 16; Akins,Shyla 3-10 3-6 11; Miller,Elise 3-3 0-1 8;
Goddard,Katie 3-4 0-0 7; Divilbiss,Chantel 3-10 0-0 6; Mottershaw,Jordan 2-5
1-2 5; Henry,Kelsey 1-2 0-2 2; Rodriguez,Whitney 1-2 0-0 2; Titus,Angie 0-0
2-2 2; Nicklason,Leah 0-2 0-0 0; Buck,Rebecca 0-0 0-0 0; Reade,Amber 0-2 0-0
0; Fowler,Melissa 0-0 0-2 0; Steiger,Jackie 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 14-27
59.
Simpson.......................   21   29  -   50
Western Oregon................   25   34  -   59
3-point goals--Simpson 5-23 (Wofford,Esther 3-8; Hahn,Kaity 1-5;
Aaserude,Tiffany 1-6; Gallardo,Rianna 0-1; Jones,Nichole 0-3), Western
Oregon 5-13 (Akins,Shyla 2-4; Miller,Elise 2-2; Goddard,Katie 1-2;
Steiger,Jackie 0-1; Divilbiss,Chantel 0-4). Fouled out--Simpson-Cox,Madison,
Western Oregon-None. Rebounds--Simpson 34 (Hahn,Kaity 5; Jones,Nichole 5;
Ratfield,Katie 5), Western Oregon 46 (Goularte,Dana 7). Assists--Simpson 12
(Jones,Nichole 4; Hahn,Kaity 4), Western Oregon 8 (Akins,Shyla 3;
Mottershaw,Jordan 3). Total fouls--Simpson 19, Western Oregon 16. Technical
fouls--Simpson-None, Western Oregon-None. A-146