Thursday, March 5, 2020

SEATTLE – Bellingham is 90 miles away from Seattle but Western Washington felt right at home tonight.

The third-seeded Vikings advance in the GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships, pulling ahead early and never trailing again to take a 69-54 win from No. 6 Montana State Billings in the quarterfinals on Thursday at Seattle Pacific University’s Royal Brougham Pavilion.

The Vikings won both meetings with the Yellowjackets in the regular season, completing an 81-61 rout at home on Dec. 7 before edging out the Jackets, 76-72, in the regular-season finale on Feb. 27 in Billings. The neutral setting did little to slow down the Vikings the third time around as they ran away with the 15-point win.

The Vikings went on a 6-0 run in the first quarter and kept the Yellowjackets scoreless for nearly four minutes to go up by five entering the second quarter. The Yellowjackets traded points with the Vikings in the second and third quarters but when it was time to close, the Vikings did just that.

Junior guard Gracie Castaneda led the Vikings with 13 points off the bench, connecting on a perfect 4 of 4 from the field, 1 of 1 from three-point range and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. She also contributed two rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Honorable mention junior guard Emma Duff registered a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists and a steal in the win. All 10 of her points were scored in the first half as she connected on 4 of 9 from the field and a perfect 2 of 2 from the free-throw line.

First Team All-GNAC center Anna Schwecke fouled out at the 5:36 mark in the fourth quarter but the senior still contributed 11 points on 5 of 8 from the field while adding three rebounds. The Yellowjackets limited Duff and Schwecke to a combined two points in the second half.

Yellowjackets sophomore forward Taryn Shelley led all scorers with 21 points and added 11 rebounds and a steal to register her 12th double-double of the season. The Vikings tamed Shelley in the first half, limiting her to just two points before she responded by dropping 19 points and pulling down five rebounds in the second half.

Junior point guard Hannah Collins and senior guard Jeanann Lemelin scored nine points apiece in the loss. Collins also contributed five assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.

The last time Western Washington trailed in the game was when the score was 5-4 at the 7:29 mark in the first quarter. The Vikings finished the game shooting 45.6 percent from the field and limited the Yellowjackets to just 32.1 percent from the floor.

The Vikings improved to 21-8 overall and will advance to play No. 2 Northwest Nazarene at 5:15 p.m. on Friday. The two teams split the season series with the Vikings winning 94-83 in Nampa on Jan. 18 and the Nighthawks winning 79-72 in Bellingham on Feb. 13.