Written by Iain Dexter, Sports Information Inter

SEATTLE, Washington - The Western Oregon University women's basketball team dropped a close game Saturday night against No. 15-ranked Seattle Pacific University in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) play, 69-64, inside Brougham Pavilion.

"We showed a lot of heart tonight against a very determined SPU, senior led group," said Head Coach Holli Howard-Carpenter. "We got off to a slow start and their shooters got hot early. In the second half, we defended much better and were able to knock down some shots. We didn't allow second chance points and that really helped us cut the lead.  In the end, freethrows hurt us as we only shot 50%. Dana (Goularte) and Sami (Osborne) led the way for us offensively and Katie (Goddard) was a great spark off the bench in the second half."
 
The Wolves (7-17, 4-12 GNAC) were led by senior Dana Goularte, who was celebrating her birthday, with a game-high 22 points. She added four rebounds, two steals and one assist. Freshman Sami Osborne and junior Katie Goddard each reached double-digit points in the loss finishing with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
 
The Falcons (20-4, 12-4 GNAC) had two players reach double-digit points with Aubree Callen leading the way with 21 and Suzanna Ohlsen adding 19 points, six rebounds, a game-high five assists, and three steals.
 
Western Oregon shot a combined 44.6% (25-for-56) from the field and 53.3% (8-for-15) from behind the three-point arc. The Falcons finished at 47.2% (25-for-53) shooting from the field for the game and 50% (9-for-18) from long range.
 
The Wolves never held the lead in the game, trailing by as many as 16 multiple times in the first half. They cut the lead down to 11 points at the end of the first half, trailing 37-26 with 20 minutes to go.

WOU continued to rally in the second half, pulling within five points (43-38) with 13:16 remaining after an Elise Miller jumper.
 
The Falcons answered though, bringing the lead back up to 14 points (52-38) with 10:31 left on the clock. The Wolves once again rallied in the last seven minutes, reducing the lead back down to five points for the final score of 69-64.
 
Western Oregon returns home for their final two regular season games of the year, as the Wolves first host Central Washington University on Thursday, February 26, at 7 p.m. Then they will wrap up their year on Senior Night against Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday, February 28, at 5:15 p.m.

The team will honor the trio of Goularte, junior Angie Titus, and Miller thanking them for their service to the program during their respective careers.