Written by Iain Dexter, Sports Information InternMONMOUTH, Ore. – Western Oregon University women's basketball team struggled against Western Washington University in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) play Saturday night falling to the visiting Vikings, 81-48, on Play4Kay Night inside the New PE Building.
"We dug ourselves a hole early in the first half and came out flat in the second half," said Head Coach
Holli Howard-Carpenter. "We went away from everything that got us the win
on Thursday night. Western Washington is a well-balanced team inside and out and we just didn't have an answer for them. Our consistency has been a struggle for us all season. We have the ability to compete with many of the teams in this conference and need to have more mental toughness when things aren't going well."
After a dominant performance shooting Thursday over Simon Fraser, Western Oregon (6-16, 3-11 GNAC) had difficulty hitting their mark against the Vikings, shooting 37.3% (19-for-51) from the field. The team finished from three-point range at 28.6% (4-for-14).
Senior
Dana Goularte paced the team offensively with 12 points, while also grabbing a team-high tying seven rebounds and dishing out three assists. Junior
Emily Howey also reached double-digits with 10 points, while pulling down five boards. Freshman
Sami Osborne and sophomore
Jordan Mottershaw put up nine and seven points, respectively, while junior
Elise Miller added four points, seven rebounds, and a game-high four steals.
Western Washington's (17-7, 11-4 GNAC) starting five players each reached double-digit points for the game with Taylor Peacocke leading the way with a game-high 18 points. Sydney Donaldson added 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while Kayla Bernsen and Katie Colard each put up 12 points. Jenni White chipped in with 10 points and a game-high six assists. As a team, Western Washington shot 49.2% (32-for-65) from the field and 43.8% (7-for-16) from three-point range.
The Vikings out-rebounded WOU by 10, 39-to-29, for the game. The Wolves turned the ball over 19 times to just nine for WWU. The Vikings never let go of the lead after their first basket and led 39-24 at halftime. They were also perfect from the charity stripe, shooting 10-for-10 from the line.
Western Oregon wore pink uniforms for their annual Play4Kay game to help raise Breast Cancer Awareness, as the Wolves will return to action on their final road trip of the season against Montana State University Billings on Thursday, February 19, beginning at 7 p.m. MT inside Alterowitz Gymnasium in Billings, Montana.
