LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Senior forward
Dana Goularte surpassed 1,000 career points with a game and career-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, as Western Oregon University's women's basketball team closed out play at the Las Vegas Challenge with a 66-53 victory over tournament-host Dixie State University Thursday inside the Orleans Arena.
"This is a great way to finish off our trip," said Head Coach
Holli Howard-Carpenter. "We played with a lot of focus and heart. We took advantage of matchups and Dana really put in the work. It was great that on the night she scored 1,000 career points, we got the win!"
Western Oregon (4-6) extended its winning streak to two games after sweeping play this week in Las Vegas, as the Wolves move into the first Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) game of the New Year against Saint Martin's University riding its second two-game winning streak of the season.
Goularte would score her 1,000th career point with 84 seconds left in the first half on a three-pointer that extended WOU's lead to 29-22, as she finished the opening twenty minutes of play with 13 points to lead all players before adding 14 more points in the second half en route to pushing her current career point total to 1,015.
Along with Goularte's career-high scoring output, the senior also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds en route to registering her sixth double-double of the season. Goularte was aided offensively by sophomore
Jordan Mottershaw with 15 points, while the junior duo of
Elise Miller and
Katie Goddard chipped in with seven and six points, respectively. Freshman
Sami Osborne put together an all-around game with four points, five rebounds, and a game-high tying five assists with fellow freshman
Sydney Azorr registering a team-best three steals for the Wolves.
Dixie State (3-6) was led offensively by Leslie Tademy with 13 points and a game-high tying five assists, as she was the only Red Storm player to score in double figures. Sandria Bolden and Brianna Jessop aided DSU's offense with eight and seven points, respectively, while Taylor Mann grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the Red Storm.
Western Oregon would score the game's opening basket and never relinquished its lead throughout the remainder of the game. The Wolves quickly extended their lead to six points (8-2) within the opening four minutes, as WOU pushed their lead to as much as 33-24 at halftime following a jumper by junior
Angie Titus that closed out the scoring over the first twenty minutes of play.
The second half would begin with Western Oregon scoring the opening six points en route to earning a 15-point lead (39-24) on a pair of free throws by Osborne with 17:17 on the clock. Dixie State would get within nine points (50-41) with just over eight minutes left before the Wolves used an 8-0 run over a span of two minutes to pull ahead by a game-high 17 points (58-41) with 5:15 left. Over the final five minutes, Western Oregon used timely defense and free throw shooting down the stretch en route to earning the 13-point win (66-53) to cap off a week that included a pair of victories over fellow West Region opponents.
"We did a great job defending and held them under their season scoring average," added Howard-Carpenter. "It was nice to shoot it better in the second half. We put two halves together. I'm really proud of the girls."
As a team, Western Oregon combined to shoot 22-for-55 (40.0%) from the field that included a 1-for-5 (20.0%) performance from beyond the three-point line as well as a 21-for-32 (65.6%) showing at the free throw line. On the other hand, Dixie State was a combined 22-for-62 (35.5%) from the field, 3-of-18 (16.7%) from long distance, and 6-of-9 (66.7%) at the charity stripe.
Western Oregon is finished with competition for the remainder of 2014, as the Wolves will return to GNAC play on Saturday, January 3, against Saint Martin's beginning at 2:00 p.m. inside the New PE Buidling in Monmouth.
