BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Trying to pick up just their second road win in Bellingham since 2000, the Western Oregon University women's basketball team did just about that. Going against Western Washington, currently tied for third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings, the Wolves showed resiliency erasing an early 17-point deficit and nearly winning the game in the final seconds before the Vikings survived for the 61-57 win over the Wolves in GNAC action Saturday night.
"I thought we played with a lot of heart tonight. We dug ourselves a hole in the first but didn't let that get to us. To hold them to 61 points says a lot about our effort on the defensive side. Our zone was solid and we we're able to take them out of their rhythm a bit. Once we started to push the ball in transition we got some good looks at the basket and were able to find a bit of a rhythm," head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said.
The game almost was a carbon copy of the earlier meeting that went double-overtime in Monmouth before WOU claimed the thrilling victory. In that game, WOU erased a 12-point second half deficit. It was another uphill battle Saturday, with Western Washington building a lead by as many as 17 early in the second quarter.
The Vikings (15-5, 9-3 GNAC) used a big 24-9 first quarter to set the table for the rest of the night. Despite the big outburst, WOU (5-14, 2-10 GNAC) quickly responded winning the next three quarters to setup the wild finish.
WOU (5-14, 2-10 GNAC) began to chip away in the second quarter, trimming the deficit back to 10 on a couple of occasions, closing the half with a jumper by Shariah Green that left WWU with the 32-22 lead.
Still trailing by 10 midway through the third quarter, Tresai McCarver hit a three-pointer and then a jumper in the paint from Rachel Rogers had the Wolves within five at 42-37. The Vikings finished the third on a 4-0 spurt to hold a 48-39 entering the final frame.
Western Washington threatened to put the game out of reach, moving back out to an 11-point lead a minute into the fourth. WOU refused to go away as Keyonna Jones began to take over with a tough one-hand jumper in the paint and then hit a pair from the line to cut the deficit back to six.
Back-to-back jumpers by Jones of the same tough variety in the paint pulled WOU to within three at 54-51 with 4:33 to play. After the Vikings split a pair from the foul line, Green was able to get loose in transition for a fastbreak layup to cut the lead to two. McCarver then split two from the line to leave WWU holding just a slim 55-54 lead with three minutes to play.
Western Washington was able to stretch the lead back to five, but a big trey from Cali McClave left the Wolves down just two with a minute to play. Following a defensive stop, WOU had a chance to tie or take the lead, but an offensive foul was called on a drive to give the ball back to the Vikings with 41 seconds to play. Looking like WOU might force a shot clock violation, Gracie Castaneda was able to hit a difficult one-handed fade away shot in the paint as the shot clock expired to push the lead to 61-57 with 10 seconds to play. WOU tried to hit a three on the next trip down, but the shot was missed and time ran out with the Vikings hanging on for the win.
Jones led the Wolves with 13 points on 5-11 shooting, along with three rebounds, two steals and an assist. McCarver tallied 10 points, while Green just missed a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds. WOU went 20-54 (37) from the field, 6-22 (27) from three and 11-17 (65) at the foul line.
Emma Duff led the Vikings with 12 points, while Anna Schwecke added 11 points and seven rebounds. Western Washington made 21-58 (36) from the field, 3-15 (20) from three and 16-19 (84) at the foul line.
"Keyonna had a solid night for us and Tresai came in and knocked down some big shots. We just needed a few more to fall tonight," Howard-Carpenter added.
WOU returns home to host Concordia this Tuesday night inside NPE Building Gym starting at 7 p.m. The Wolves will finish the week traveling to MSU Billings on Thursday at 7 p.m.
