MONMOUTH, Ore. –The Western Oregon University women's basketball team concludes their season this week with a pair of home games. The Wolves host Seattle Pacific Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. and Saint Martin's March 2 at 5:15 p.m. inside NPE Gym.

ABOUT SPU (8-17, 7-11 GNAC): Seattle Pacific put an end to a five-game skid last week when they beat Alaska 67-60 at home in their final home game of the season. The Falcons started 3-0 in conference play before their recent troubles to drop them to four games below .500 in the GNAC.
 
Shooting is the biggest strength for the Falcons, hitting 34.7 percent of 3-pointers and 40.5 percent of field goals to be in the conference's top five in both categories.
 
Senior Riley Evans is averaging 12.3 points for SPU while leading the GNAC with an impressive 92.1 percent mark from the free throw line.
 
Cici West is 2nd with 8.9 rebounds per game, trailing only CWU's Kassidy Malcolm in the conference. She is also shooting 53.2 percent from the field.

WOU vs. SPU: WOU is 2-36 against SPU since 2001. The Falcons have won eight straight dating back to Jan. 22, 2015 when the Wolves topped SPU 67-62 at home. They are 2-16 at home in the series.

ABOUT SMU (6-20, 4-14 GNAC): The Saints have lost six of their last seven games and are 3-14 over their last 17 games dating back to Dec. 18.
 
Allowing the most points per game in the GNAC, SMU opponents are averaging 74.2 points a night. They are also last in the conference in assists, 3-point percentage defense and field goal percentage defense.
 
Three Saints are in the top 13 of the conference in scoring, led by freshman Claire Dingus' 13.1 points per game. Dingus is also 6th in rebounds (7.4) and 15th in steals (1.4).
 
Dingus and Makenna Schultz are 3rd and 2nd, respectively, in minutes played at 33.6 and 34.1 minutes per game.

WOU vs. SMU: Western Oregon is 10-28 against SMU since 2001. WOU has won four of the last five in the series. SMU's last win in Monmouth came on Feb. 25, 2016 in a 62-53 victory. WOU is 6-12 at home in the series.

ABOUT WESTERN OREGON (7-17, 4-14 GNAC): The Wolves had their season-long losing streak stretched to six games with two losses last week, falling 64-47 to Concordia and 80-70 to MSUB.
 
WOU held a lead after the first quarter in both games and took a lead into the half against the Yellowjackets.

Junior Natalie DeLonge set career-highs in five categories against MSUB, scoring 27 points along with 15 rebounds, five assists and 12 made field goals on 23 attempts. It was the third game this season DeLonge has set a new career-best in scoring and was her 5th game of 20+ points.

JONESING FOR DIMES: Keyonna Jones' 86 total assists is the 7th-best single-season total in the school's NCAA-era history. With two games remaining, she is seven shy of 6th and 11 shy of tying 5th.
 
ALL-TIME SHOOTERS: Ali Nelke's 55.9 percent field goal shooting is 2nd only to Vanessa Wyffels' 61.3 percent during the 2007-08 season on Western Oregon's NCAA-era all-time list.

UNWAVERING UNDERNEATH: Forwards Ali Nelke and Natalie DeLonge are the only two players to start every game for WOU this season.
 
FREE THROW LOW: WOU made just three trips to the line Feb. 9 against Simon Fraser for six total free throw shots. It was the first time this season they have taken less than 12 free throws in a game.
 
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS: WOU is averaging 14.1 assists per game, their best team average since 2002-03.
 
27 IN A ROW: Ali Nelke made 27 straight free throws before her first miss of the season when she went 1-for-2 at the line Feb. 2 at Central Washington.
 
OPENING SUCCESS: Western Oregon is out-scoring opponents 378-352 in the first quarter this season.

THIEVERY ON THE MIND: WOU has nabbed 10 steals three times this season. The +7 steal margin against MSUB Jan. 26 was the highest this season for the Wolves.

THE HIGHS AND THE LOWS: In WOU's 79-50 win Jan. 19 at home against Alaska, the Wolves matched their highest point total of the season while also holding the Nanooks to an opponent-low. As a result, the Wolves had their largest win of the season at 29 points. The Nanooks were also the victims of WOU's lowest points allowed last season, scoring 49 Feb. 8, 2018, in Monmouth.

BACK-TO-BACK CAREER NIGHTS: Natalie DeLonge set a career-high with 23 points Jan. 17 at home against Alaska Anchorage. She wasted no time topping that mark, going for 24 points in her very next game Jan. 19 against Alaska. She topped that number again Feb. 23 with 27 points at home against MSUB. She is now averaging 14.5 points per game through 24 appearances. Her clip is good for the 10th-best scoring average in WOU's NCAA-era history.

BLOCK PARTY: WOU'S seven team blocks Dec. 1 at Seattle Pacific matches their highest single-game total since an eight-block performance Dec. 7, 2013 in a 71-63 overtime win against Central Washington. It also matches the highest total for a game finished in regulation since Nov. 17, 2012 when Western Oregon beat Pacific Lutheran 74-62. They repeated that effort Jan. 19 against Alaska with another seven blocks.

NOT BY A LONG SHOT: Western Oregon is having one of their best shooting seasons from the paint in their NCAA history. As a result, they have taken fewer shots from 3-point range. The five 3-point attempts Jan. 10 against Simon Fraser was the fewest taken since they attempted just four Jan. 14, 2012 in a 67-53 win over Saint Martin's.
 
EFFICIENCY IS THE KEY: WOU is currently shooting 40.3 percent from the field as a team. That mark is their best team shooting line since the 2011-12 campaign when they finished with a 41.6 percent shooting season. It is also the second-highest clip since 2003-04.
 
LEADING SCORER: Junior Natalie DeLonge has been the Wolves' leading scorer in 17 of 24 games this season.

KEEP 'EM OFF THE BOARDS: Western Oregon has allowed the second-fewest opponent defensive rebounds in the conference, giving up just 525 for a .330 offensive rebounding percentage.
 
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL: The seven turnovers committed Dec. 10 against Northwest Christian is the fewest turnovers committed by the Wolves in a game during their NCAA-era history dating back to the 2000-01 season.
 
SHARP-SHOOTING SENIOR: Ali Nelke currently ranks 3rd in the Great Northwest Athletic conference in field goal percentage (.559). She is also in the GNAC's top-10 in assist/turnover ratio (8th), offensive rebounds (6th), minutes played (5th) and blocks (6th).
 
TEAM CONTRIBUTION: In the Wolves' 79-62 win Dec. 10 over Northwest Christian, nine separate players scored at least five points in the game while four scored in double figures. Five players have a season average of seven or more points as well.
 
JONES' OFFENSIVE RUN: Sophomore guard Keyonna Jones scored in double figures in four consecutive games between Nov. 17 and Dec. 10, including a career-high 23 points Dec. 1 at Seattle Pacific. She is averaging 10.1 points per game this season.
 
TIGHT START TO THE SEASON: Of the Wolves' first six games, three were decided by five or fewer points.
 
REBOUNDING FORTE: Western Oregon players account for four of the top 35 list of rebounders in the conference. Currently three Wolves are averaging five rebounds or more per game. The team's 21 offensive rebounds Dec. 19 is tied for the most in a game since Dec. 17, 2014 when WOU pulled down 26 offensive boards in a 73-60 win over Holy Names.
 
NELKE PUTTING IN WORK: Senior forward Ali Nelke is currently 5th in the GNAC in minutes played, averaging 32.0 minutes per game. That has included playing all 40 minutes of the game Nov. 17 against Colorado Mesa. Nelke has logged at least 30 minutes in all but three games so far this year. Her current average leaves her just 3.5 minutes shy of the school NCAA-era record for single season average set by Michelle Laski during the 2003-04 campaign.

2018-19 GNAC PRESEASON POLL: The Wolves were picked to finish in 10th place according to the GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll… Picking up six first-place votes, Northwest Nazarene was chosen to repeat as regular season champions after going 22-5 overall and 18-2 in GNAC play a year ago… Also picking up first-place votes was Alaska Anchorage (5).

2017-18 REVIEW: The Wolves ended last year with an 11-15 overall record and a 7-13 record in GNAC play to place 9th in the league standings… were ranked ninth in the GNAC after scoring 65.8 points per game… ranked seventh in defense, allowing 68.6 points per game and second in free throw percentage (.793).

D2 WEST REGION POLL: Four GNAC teams were represented in the final D2SIDA West Region poll Feb. 11. The top eight in the poll held their position while Hawai'i Pacific moved into a tie for 10th.
 

D2SIDA West Region Poll (Feb. 11, 2019)
Rank / School	Record	Points
1. UC San Diego (6)	20-0	60
2. Northwest Nazarene	21-1	54
3. Alaska Anchorage	21-1	48
4. Cal Poly Pomona	19-3	42
5. Dominican	19-3	33
6. Azusa Pacific	19-4	30
7. Humboldt State	13-6	24
8. Simon Fraser	14-7	20
9. Central Washington	14-7	11
T10. Hawai'I Pacific	17-5	3
T10. Chico State	12-7	3