Monday, March 6, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – With Western Washington winning its first GNAC women’s basketball championship since 2014 and Northwest Nazarene winning the first GNAC men’s basketball championship in program history on Saturday, the two teams share top honors as GNAC Teams of the Week.

Western Washington claimed its championship with a 76-71 win over Montana State Billings. The Vikings overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half to become the first host program to win the tournament for either gender in GNAC history. It is WWU’s third title in program history.

The Vikings were led to victory by junior forward and tournament MVP Brooke Walling, who knocked down 22 points in the final to go with eight rebounds, two assists and a block while shooting 71.4% from the field. Walling was also the top scorer for WWU in the semifinals, where she narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Another key element for Western Washington in securing the championship was defense. The Vikings held  MSUB to just 37.3% from the field led by GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Avery Dykstra. The senior guard finished the final with 12 points, three rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal while shooting 80% from the field.

“It was so fun to play in Carver Gym where we had so much support from our community and our campus community,” Vikings head coach Carmen Dolfo said after the game. “So I really think that gave us a big push for sure. I think the big turning point for us is that defensively we just decided to get into people a little bit more. I think we were passive in the first half and I think we came back and our team just really got determined. I think Maddy (Grandbois) and Avery really sparked us with pressuring the guards up the floor and that made a really big difference for us.

Northwest Nazarene won its first championship in program history with a 65-57 victory over No. 1 seed Saint Martin’s. The Nighthawks led wire to wire after opening the game with an 11-2 run. They played the most basketball possible on the way to becoming conference champions, beating Seattle Pacific on Thursday in the quarterfinals, 82-74, and Montana State Billings 54-38 in Friday’s semifinal.

Sophomore Ryzin “Biggie” Bergersen was crictical to that fast start for NNU, knocking down 14 points in the first half without missing a shot. He finished the game with 22 points while shooting 70% from the field and 85.7% from three-point range to go with nine points in Friday’s win. His performances throughout the tournament earned him recognition as the tournament MVP.

The Nighthawks were in full force in Saturday’s final, shooting 43.8% from the field and 44.4% from long range while holding the Saints to 32.4% from the field and 32.1% from deep. Sophomore Aaron Murphy was a key player in getting NNU to the final in the first place, leading the team with 16 points and six rebounds in Friday’s semifinal win over Montana State Billings.

“The adversity that these guys have overcome, the perseverance they’ve had, we believe that perseverance produces character and that character is why we’re sitting here right now,” Nighthawks head coach Paul Rush said after the game. “Because of the character these guys developed through a lot of perseverance, a lot of staying together, staying focused on the right things. It’s amazing.”