Thursday, March 7, 2019

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A 19-point outburst from center Anna Schwecke and a couple of big runs allowed No. 6 seed and host Western Washington to top No. 3 Simon Fraser for a 72-69 victory in the quarterfinals of the GNAC Women's Basketball Championship.

The win allowed the Vikings to finish 3-0 this season against their neighbors to the north. The close defeat sends the Clan back to Burnaby with a 17-11 record, while WWU advances to face Northwest Nazarene in Friday's second semifinal.

Schwecke (19 points, four rebounds) and freshman Avery Dykstra (13 points, three assists) led Western Washington in the winning effort. Schwecke shine on the line, going 9 for 9 on free throws. Dykstra held things down in the backcourt, putting together an efficient afternoon that featured 4 of 6 shooting from the field and 4 for 5 shooting at the free throw line. 

Simon Fraser sophomore Jessica Jones led all scorers with 20 points on the day. As a team, the tournament's No. 3 seed shot 37.1 percent from the field.

The first half featured a tale of two quarters as each team exchanged sizeable runs. Simon Fraser tallied 20 of the game's first 32 points but ultimately trailed heading into the locker rooms as the host school outscored the Clan 24-8 in the second stanza.

The streaky teams stayed that way in the third quarter as SFU went on a 17-0 binge early in the half to turn a 43-28 deficit into a 45-43 lead. The contest was tight the rest of the way, but the Vikings would seize the lead for good when freshman Katrina Gimmaka buried a three-pointer with just over 11 minutes to play. 

Not willing to let their GNAC Championships run die just yet, Simon Fraser was able to piece together a last-minute comeback.

Point guard Tayler Drynan made a driving layup with nine seconds left to cut the deficit to 72-69, and the score would stay there after a pair of missed free throws on the other end of the floor. The Clan were unable to get off a final three-point attempt, however, sending the hosts through to the semifinals.

That semifinal battle will tip-off at 2:15 p.m. on Friday afternoon as the No. 2 seed Nighthawks come calling. For those not in attendance in Bellingham, the game will be streamed live on GNAC.tv.