MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University women's basketball team held a lead in the second quarter and were within a point of #9 Western Washington at halftime. Then the Vikings put together a 30-point third quarter on their way to claiming the 77-59 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory Tuesday inside New PE Gym.
"It's tough to win games when you turn the ball over as much as we did tonight. We have to find a way to clean that up or it's going to be a long February," head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said. "I thought the first quarter was slow for both teams and then we just didn't take advantage in the second when they were turning the ball over. We got caught ball-watching a lot on defense and we can't afford to lose focus when we're trying to close the gap. We didn't show a lot of fight until it was too late and that was disappointing."
WWU (13-1, 5-1 GNAC) opened the scoring just over a minute in. Madisyn Clark answered for the Wolves (7-9, 3-6 GNAC) hitting two at the foul line. It was a big game at the free throw line for Clark as she went 11-14 from the charity stripe on the afternoon.
Trailing 6-5, WOU used a three-point-play by Meadow Aragon to take a 9-6 lead at the 3:33 mark of the opening quarter. With WOU holding a one-point lead, the Vikings went on a 6-0 run to push the lead to 16-11 before two free throws by Kaelin Williams-Kennedy helped bring WOU to within three at 16-13.
Alexis Wright began the second quarter for the Wolves with a jumper just over a minute in. Right after WWU push the lead to five, WOU responded with a 7-0 run to regain the advantage. During the run, Ana McClave hit a three-pointer, and after a foul shot by Clark, Tresai McCarver connected on a triple for the 22-20 lead.
WOU had the lead back out to three on a free throw by Makenna Gambee for the 25-22 advantage with 3:52 to play in the half. WWU tallied the next six points before Cali McClave capped the half with a tough off-balanced jumper at the buzzer to leave the Vikings with just a one-point lead, 28-27, at halftime.
Then out of the locker rooms, WWU turned up the pressure. The Vikings went on a 10-1 run over the first three-plus minutes of the second half to take a 38-28 lead. WOU fought back to within nine on a layup by Ana McClave and were within 10 on a pair of free throws by Clark before WWU went on a 10-0 run to stretch the lead to 52-32.
WOU kept chipping away, getting to within 15 on a jumper by Amber Winkler before the Vikings closed the quarter hitting their own shot at the horn, this one a three-pointer by Monique Fierke for the 58-40 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
The Wolves kept pushing to get back into the game in the fourth and had the lead almost into single digits. Cali McClave and Aragon hit a pair of layups to pull WOU to within 11 at 67-56 with still four minutes to play.
Just as quickly as WOU was back into it, WWU put the game out of reach going on a 6-0 run over the next two minutes to eventually take the victory.
Aragon led the Wolves with 13 points, along with four rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block. Clark tallied 11 points. Ana McClave chipped in seven points, three rebounds and two steals. A trio of Wolves scored six points in Gambee, McCarver and Wright. WOU went 18-51 (35.3) from the field, 3-9 (33.3) from three and 20-25 (80) at the foul line. The Wolves held advantages on bench points (23-22) and second chance points (13-8).
Emma Duff again powered the Vikings with 24 points, along with five rebounds and three steals. Carley Zaragoza added 12 points, three rebounds and three steals. Brooke Walling also reached double-figures in scoring with 11 points. Riley Dykstra pushed for a double-double with eight points and seven rebounds. WWU went 32-54 (59.3) from the field, 4-13 (30.8) from three and 9-17 (52.9) at the foul line. The Vikings held a big edge on points in the paint (52-20) and points off turnovers (30-16).
"We have a lot of games in a short period of time and we have to find a way to show up and get better each day without taking steps back. When we are on the same page and playing with a sense of urgency, we're a tough team. No time to hang our heads, we just have to bounce back," Howard-Carpenter said.
WOU will travel to Lacey this Saturday to face Saint Martin's starting at 5:15 p.m. The Wolves will then play another Tuesday home game the following week hosting Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 8 starting at 5:15 p.m.
