LAS VEGAS, Nev. – In the opening game of the 2014 Las Vegas Challenge hosted by Dixie State University, Western Oregon University's women's basketball team earned its third win of the season via a 73-60 victory over Holy Names University Wednesday inside the Orleans Arena.

"Today was a team win, everyone contributed," said Head Coach Holli Howard-Carpenter. "We did a phenomenal job on the offensive glass and gave ourselves extra opportunities to score. Defensively, we had a few let downs but we were able to answer on the offensive end."

Western Oregon (3-6) was led offensively by senior preseason all-conference selection Dana Goularte with 17 points, as the fourth-year Wolf was 8-of-16 from the field, including a perfect 1-for-1 from beyond the three-point line, and also registered her fifth double-double of the season thanks to a team and game-high 15 rebounds to go along with a game-high five assists.

Along with Goularte, junior Emily Howey poured in a career-high 16 points off the Wolves' bench on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Sophomore Jordan Mottershaw chipped in offensively with 15 points that included a 9-for-10 showing at the free throw line, while freshman Sami Osborne just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

"Emily was great off the bench for us, her teammates found her and she finished," added Howard-Carpenter. "Sami was just shy of a double-double and really helped us on the glass. Jasmine stepped in and gave us solid minutes as well and as always, Dana flat out filled up the stat sheet."

For Holy Names (2-7), Garysha Youngblood tallied a game-high 26 points on 11-for-16 shooting from the field. Along with Youngblood, Isabelle Ayad also scored in double figures for the Hawks registering 14 points with Jessica Pena pulling down a team-high seven rebounds for HNU.

In the opening two-plus minutes of the game, Holy Names broke a 4-4 tie with a 4-0 run before Western Oregon used a 10-0 run over a span of four minutes to pull ahead by six points (14-8) on a lay-in by Howey with 13:13 on the clock. The Wolves would push their lead to double digits (20-10) two minutes later before WOU slowly built a 37-22 lead on a lay-in by Osborne with 2:25 left in the first half. Western Oregon would settle for an 11-point cushion (37-26) at halftime, as the Wolves shot 16-for-39 (41.0%) from the field over the opening twenty minutes of play.

The second half would begin with Western Oregon using a 7-3 run to expand its lead to 15 points (44-29) on a free throw by Osborne with 16:37 remaining in the game. Following a lay-in by Howey that gave the Wolves a 46-31 lead with just under 16 minutes on the clock, Holy Names used a 25-12 run over a span of 13-plus minutes to pull within six points (62-56) on an old-fashion three-point play by Youngblood with 2:45 left. Fortunately, a three-pointer by junior Elise Miller, back-to-back lay-ins by Osborne and freshman Jasmine Miller as well as four perfect trips to the free throw line by Mottershaw helped Western Oregon earn the 13-point win (73-60) in the end.

As a team, Western Oregon combined to shoot 29-for-73 (39.7%) from the field that included a 3-for-14 (21.4%) showing from beyond the three-point arc as well as a 12-for-17 (70.6%) performance at the free throw line. On the other hand, Holy Names was a combined 20-for-56 (35.7%) from the field, 5-of-16 (31.3%) from long distance, and 15-of-17 (88.2%) at the charity stripe.

Western Oregon will close out its current six-game road trip when it returns to the hardwood tomorrow – Thursday, December 18 – against tournament host Dixie State beginning at 5 p.m. inside the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"We aren't satisfied though," commented Howard-Carpenter. "We have to continue to make adjustments, get better, and take care of business tomorrow against a solid Dixie team."