BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Senior forward Hannah Stipanovich scored a game-high 17 points to lead three Vikings in double-figure scoring and the Western Washington University women’s basketball team used a dominant run after halftime to pull away from visiting Western Oregon for a 66-46 victory on WECU Court at Carver Gym Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
The Vikings (9-12, 5-8 GNAC) outscored the Wolves (8-11, 4-9 GNAC) 38-19 in the third and fourth quarters to earn a commanding victory after holding a 28-27 lead at halftime. The victory also helped WWU keep pace in a crowded race for GNAC Championships berths.

WWU used a 7-0 run to end the second quarter and take the one-point halftime lead before outscoring WOU 19-9 in the third quarter to take a 47-36 lead after three quarters. A 7-3 run to start the third quarter, including five straight points from sophomore guard Lexie Bland (Ellensburg, WA), opened a 35-30 lead. After WOU came within 35-32 the Vikings answered with a 12-4 run and held WOU without a field goal for nearly six minutes for the 11-point lead at the end of the period, capping the run with a layup from junior center Nikki Corbett (Camas, WA) off an inbounds pass from sophomore guard Dani Iwami (Seal Beach, CA/Hawai’i Pacific) as time expired in the quarter.

The dominating play continued in the fourth quarter for the Vikings as WWU scored 13 unanswered points to begin the period, taking their largest lead of the game at 60-36 with 6:10 remaining. The 13 unanswered points were part of a larger 23-2 run as the Vikings pulled away from a 37-34 lead with 5:16 left in the third quarter to open the 60-36 advantage midway through the final quarter. The WWU defense held the Wolves without a field goal during the fourth quarter until the 3:35 mark as WOU was limited to two points on a pair of free throws over the first 6:25 of the period.

“We’ve been trying to key in on defense and it’s just fun to watch them get better,” head coach Carmen Dolfo said on the postgame show. “I think a lot of it is confidence and being committed. I felt like tonight we didn’t go for big risks – we weren’t reaching or stealing…they played really solid and I thought at the offensive end, too, they really played well together.”

Neither team had led by more than three points in the first quarter, which featured nine lead changes. The Wolves took their largest lead of the game at 27-21 with 2:27 left in the second quarter before the strong finish to the period gave WWU the halftime advantage at 28-27, with the late run punctuated by a fastbreak layup just before the buzzer by redshirt freshman guard Gracie Castaneda (Arlington, WA) off an assist from freshman guard Emma Duff (Tumwater, WA/Black Hills).

Stipanovich (St. Louis, MO/Metro State) totaled her 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and also had a game-high 8 rebounds, scoring 8 of her points during the fourth quarter. Duff added a career-high 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 6 points during the fourth quarter, and also filled up the stat sheet with 6 rebounds and a career-best 4 assists as well. Castaneda added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 5 points in the third quarter.

The Vikings were 28-of-58 (48.3%) from the field and made 4-of-15 (26.7%) from 3-point range. WWU also made 6-of-7 (85.7%) of their free throw attempts. In the third and fourth quarters alone, WWU went 16-of-29 (55.1%) while limiting WOU to 6-of-29 (20.6%) over the same stretch.

WOU was led by guard Sydney Azorr with 12 points while forward Savannah Heugly added 10 points and a game-high 4 steals.

The Wolves finished 18-for-58 (31.0%) and were 3-of-18 (16.7%) from long range. WOU finished 7-of-13 (53.8%) at the free throw line.

WWU is back on WECU Court at Carver Gym Saturday night, hosting Concordia at 7 pm. Tickets are available online through the WWU Box Office and the game will stream live online via WWUVikings.com/Live and YouTube.

Game Notes: Vikings are 5-8 (7th) in GNAC play and face Concordia (6-7 GNAC) on Saturday with Central Washington (9-4 GNAC) currently 4th in the standings and MSU Billings in 5th (8-5)…top four teams in regular season standings qualify for GNAC Championships…WWU held its opponent to under 50 points for the second consecutive game (defeated Alaska Fairbanks 46-38 last Saturday)…Vikings held WOU to 31.0% from the field after holding No. 9 Alaska Anchorage to 29.5% and Alaska Fairbanks to 25.9% last week…WWU went 6-of-7 at the free throw line, tied for the fewest makes and attempts of the season for the Vikings (also went 6-of-7 vs. Valdosta State on 11/24/17)…WWU earned a split of the regular-season series vs. WOU (Wolves won first matchup, 54-50, in Oregon on 01/06/18)…Emma Duff set career highs in points (15), assists (4), field goals made (7) and field goals attempted (13)…Hannah Stipanovich scored in double figures for the 16th time in 21 games during 2017-18 and the 50th time overall in her career (spanning MSU Denver and WWU)…tonight’s victory was the 1,002nd in program history.