LACEY, Wash. – Following a win in the regular season finale against Alaska Fairbanks, the Western Oregon University women's basketball team will make their first appearance in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships since the 2010-11 season when they will play Saint Martin's in the first round on Wednesday starting at 2:15 p.m. The Wolves will enter the tournament as the eighth-seed.
It will end up being a home game for Saint Martin's as they will host the first round meeting. The Wolves won both meetings against the Saint this season in exciting fashion. In the other first round game, seventh-seed Seattle Pacific will also get a home game when they host 10th-seed Alaska Fairbanks on Wednesday.
Western Washington won the regular season title, with Alaska Anchorage coming in second and Central Washington rounding out the top-three. Northwest Nazarene will be the fourth-seed, Montana State Billings will enter as the fifth-seed and Simon Fraser rounds out the top-six seeds to receive a bye into the quarterfinal round.
Following a win over Saint Martin's on Feb. 5 in Lacey, the Wolves then lost seven straight games, but had several go right to the end. In fact, there was a stretch of three games against Northwest Nazarene, Seattle Pacific and Alaska Anchorage that the Wolves ended up losing by a combined four points. WOU snapped the losing streak with a solid 82-70 road win over Alaska Fairbanks.
WOU finished the regular season with a 9-16 overall record and 5-13 mark in GNAC play. The Wolves went 6-6 at home and 3-10 in road contests, including a 3-9 mark in true road games. The five conference wins is the most since the 2018-19 season and the nine-win season is the most since posting 11 wins during the 2017-18 season.
WOU is averaging 63.4 points, making 576-1,486 (38.8) from the field, 133-486 (27.4) from three and 300-434 (69.1) from the foul line. The Wolves average 38.1 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 8.0 steals and 4.5 blocks. Opponents average 65.7 points, making 583-1,490 (39.1) from the field, 149-468 (31.8) from three and 328-479 (68.5) at the foul line. Opponents average 37.3 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 8.8 steals and 2.4 blocks.
Tresai McCarver has had a big season averaging 10.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 105 assists, 38 steals, 83 field goals, 22 three-pointers and 73 free throws in 30.5 minutes per game. She is tied for the team lead in scoring per game and field goals made, while leading the team in assists and free throws, along with minutes per game. McCarver is second in steals and rebounds. She ranks second in the GNAC in assists per game (4.2), sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6), and ninth in minutes per game.
Meadow Aragon is tied with McCarver for the team lead in points per game at 10.4. She also averages 7.0 rebounds, 35 blocks, 21 steals, 20 assists, 81 field goals and 32 free throws. Aragon is making almost 50 percent (49.4) from the field and leads the team in rebounds and blocks. She is tied for sixth in the GNAC in rebounds per game, fifth in field goal percentage, second in blocked shots per game (1.8), ninth in offensive rebounds per game (2.2), and sixth in defensive rebounds per game (4.8).
Cali McClave is averaging 9.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 51 assists, 42 steals, 83 field goals and 32 three-pointers. She leads the team in free throw percentage at 82.9 (29-35) and also leads the team in three-pointers, steals and is tied for the team lead in field goals made. She is fifth in the GNAC in steals per game (1.8). Madisyn Clark is averaging 6.7 points, 44 assists and has made 45 field goals and 20 three-pointers, good for third on the team. Princy Paaluhi-Caulk tallies 5.6 points, 30 assists and 40 field goals. Alexis Wright is at 4.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 11 blocks and is shooting almost 50 percent (52-105) from the field. Makenna Gambee tallies 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and is shooting almost 45 percent (35-78) from the field. Amber Winkler is second on the team in blocks at 34 and is averaging 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds. Kaelin Williams-Kennedy is at 4.3 points per game, along with 14 steals and has made 40 field goals. Ana McClave is at 4.0 points and 3.5 rebounds, along with 25 assists and 24 steals, making 38 field goals and 13 three-pointers. Caitlin Wheeler averages 3.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and is shooting 40 percent (22-55) from the field. Casandra White has tallied 13 three-pointers on the season.
During the 2010-11 season, WOU played Seattle Pacific in the GNAC Championships and that is the only conference tournament game the Wolves have played since joining the GNAC prior to this season.
WOU swept the regular season series against Saint Martin's winning by a combined six points. In the first meeting on Jan. 8, WOU picked up the 68-64 home win. The Wolves started strong and held off the Saints behind a near triple-double from McCarver with 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Clark added 15 points and Winkler with 12 points.
Nearly a month later, the teams met up in Lacey with WOU claiming the 49-47 victory. Clark led the way with 12 points, Gambee tallied 10 points and McCarver added nine points.
Saint Martin's finished the regular season 12-13 overall and 4-12 in GNAC play, going 7-6 at home and 5-7 in road games, including a 3-7 mark in true road contests.
The Saints picked up the nine-point road win at Alaska Fairbanks this past weekend and then had their game canceled at Alaska Anchorage due to only having only six available players.
Claire Dingus continues to lead the way for the Saints at 17.2 points, along with 7.6 rebounds, 50 assists and 58 steals She is shooting almost 47 percent from the field. Rian Clear adds 12.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 48 assists, 27 steals and 28 three-pointers. Tierney DeDonatis adds 11.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 118 assists, 28 steals and has made a team-high 43 three-pointers.
If WOU wins, they would then play top-seed Western Washington on Thursday at 2:15 p.m. in Lacey. The Vikings won both meetings during the regular season by 18 points in each meeting. The last meeting was on Feb. 1 in Monmouth.
Live video and stats will be available throughout the GNAC Championships.
For the game against Saint Martin's, click here for live video and click here for live stats
To purchase tickets to the GNAC Championships, click here
