Women's Basketball 1/4/2023 8:00:00 AM

Western Oregon women's basketball hosts Seattle Pacific on Thursday, MSU Billings on Saturday

MONMOUTH, Oregon --- The Western Oregon women's basketball team plays its first home GNAC games of the season as the Wolves open 2023 against Seattle Pacific on Thursday and MSU Billings on Saturday at New PE Building.

WESTERN OREGON HEADING INTO THE WEEK | 2022-23 STATISTICS
The Wolves are coming off a 77-68 victory on the road Saturday against Seattle Pacific with Cali McClave leading the way with 23 points, four rebounds and four steals while going 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

McClave is eighth in the conference in scoring at 16.1 points per game while she's third in steals at 2.4 per game, seventh in 3-pointers per game (2.1) and third in minutes played per game (32.1). Princy Paaluhi-Caulk is also averaging double figures in scoring at 11.2 points per game while grabbing 6.6 rebounds (ninth), leading the team at 3.3 assists (ninth in the GNAC) and adding 1.9 steals (sixth). She's 10th in the GNAC in minutes played per game (30.8).

OPPONENTS THIS WEEK ... SEATTLE PACIFIC STATS | MSU BILLINGS STATS
SEATTLE PACIFIC enters this week having won a pair of games at home this past week, beating Northwest Nazarene 58-45 on Thursday (Natalie Hoff had a team-high 20 points) and beating then No. 22 Central Washington 70-63 Saturday with Ashley Alter dropping 31 points.

Alter is tied for sixth in the GNAC in scoring at 16.4 points per game while adding 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals (fifth) per game. Hoff is averaging 11.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 blocks (tied for seventh). As a team, the Falcons are second in the conference in points allowed per game at 56.8 and are outrebounding teams by 10.6 per game (second in the GNAC).

MSU BILLINGS is coming off a pair of losses at home against then No. 22 CWU (70-44) Thursday and to NNU (80-79) Saturday.

The Yellowjackets feature a balanced scoring attack with seven players averaging seven or more points per game. Cariann Kunkel is averaging 11.3 points and 4.5 rebounds while Dyauni Boyce is averaging 10.9 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds. Six-foot-3 post Taryn Shelley played her first two games of the season for MSUB last week, averaging 10.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 15 minutes per game.

RECENT HISTORY VERSUS SPU, MSUB
This Wolves dropped both games against Seattle Pacific last season - including losing at home in overtime. The last win for WOU over the Falcons came Feb. 28, 2019 in Monmouth (60-53). Overall, the Wolves are 3-40 against SPU since the 2000-01 season.

WOU split a pair of games against MSU Billings last season, winning at home and falling on the road. Since the 2000-01 season, the Wolves are 8-27 against the Yellowjackets.

WESTERN OREGON NOTES

C. McCLAVE RACKS UP MOST STEALS IN GAME FOR WOU SINCE 2015
WOU's Cali McClave tallied six steals against CSU San Bernardino on Dec. 18, the most steals for a Wolves player since Dana Goularte had seven Jan. 31, 2015. The school record is nine held by a trio of players - Julie Miller (1995-96), Pam Emery (1995-96) and Robin Parker (three times between 1985-87).

WOU SELECTED THE GNAC TEAM OF THE WEEK (DEC. 12 - RELEASE)
The Western Oregon women's basketball team was named the GNAC Team of the Week on Dec. 12 after going 2-0 the previous week with wins over Corban and Willamette to move to 6-2 overall and 6-0 in non-conference play. The Wolves opened the week with a 77-54 win on the road at Corban on Dec. 9 in Salem. Princy Paaluhi-Caulk paced four WOU players in double figures with 17 points while Ana McClave had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four assists and three steals, Kiylynn Dawkins added 14 point and Kylee Arzner had 12 points. The Wolves the next day played their home opener against Willamette, beating the Bearcats 67-51. Paaluhi-Caulk again led the Wolves with 20 points to go along with six rebounds and five steals. Cali McClave had 13 points while Dawkins added 12 points and six rebounds.

WOLVES PICKED NINTH IN GNAC PRESEASON POLL
The Western Oregon women's basketball team was selected to finish ninth in the GNAC Preseason Poll when it was released Oct. 21. The Wolves finished with 22 points, finishing ahead of Alaska (15) and behind Saint Martin's (27). Western Washington was picked first with 98 points and eight first points followed by Alaska Anchorage (84 points, one first-place vote) and Montana State Billings (81 points, one first-place vote). WOU went 9-17 overall and 5-13 in the GNAC last season - finishing eighth in the conference.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
1. Western Washington (8), 98 pts.
2. Alaska Anchorage (1), 84 pts.
3. Montana St. Billings (1), 81 pts.
4. Central Washington, 67 pts.
5. Simon Fraser, 59 pts.
6. Northwest Nazarene, 55 pts.
7. Seattle Pacific, 42 pts.
8. Saint Martin's, 27 pts.
9. Western Oregon, 22 pts.
10. Alaska, 15 pts.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#30 Kylee Arzner: F; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#34 Kiylynn Dawkins: F; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

#13 Ana McClave: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#2 Cali McClave: G; 5' 9"; Junior

#22 Princy Paaluhi-Caulk: G; 5' 3"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#30 Kylee Arzner
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: F

#34 Kiylynn Dawkins
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman
: F

#13 Ana McClave
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#2 Cali McClave
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

#22 Princy Paaluhi-Caulk
: 5' 3"; Senior
: G