Monday, November 28, 2022
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Western Washington women’s basketball team dominated and battled its way to a 2-0 week with an 84-40 win over Dominican (Calif.) on Friday and a 68-50 victory over Bemidji State on Saturday en route to earning GNAC Team of the Week Honors.
The Vikings kicked off the Lynda Goodrich Classic at home with a convincing performance over the Penguins, who entered the season as the No. 2 preseason pick in the PacWest conference. Western was dominant on Friday, never giving up the lead after the first quarter. Sophomore guard Riley Dykstra led the charge for the Vikings with 18 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and a steal while shooting 7 for 12 from the field and 4 for 5 from three-point range. She was one of four WWU players to score in the double-digits.
Western Washington was in control of the boards against Dominican, beating the Penguins in second-chance points 20-0 and out-rebounding them 52-35. Junior forward Brooke Walling and sophomore center Truitt Reilly both recorded double-digit rebounds with Walling pulling in 11 and Reilly 10.
The Vikings followed up the win with another strong performance on Saturday against Bemidji State, led by Walling’s double-double of 21 points and 17 rebounds. Walling also tagged on five assists and five blocks with one steal while shooting 50% from the field and going 3 for 3 from the free-throw line.
For the second game in a row, the Vikings didn’t trail after the first quarter and continued to hold the advantage over their opponents with 24 second-chance points while the Beavers posted two. Senior guard Avery Dykstra and senior forward Katrina Gimmaka joined Walling in double-digit scoring with 13 points each while going 5 for 9 from the field and 2 for 2 from the free-throw line with one three-pointer and adding four rebounds apiece.
“I thought we did a great job of playing team defense the entire game throughout the tournament,” head coach Carmen Dolfo said. “Even when our offense was not fluid, we relied on our defense to get us through the games. Brooke was amazing in all facets of the game and is off to a great start to the season. Not only scoring and rebounding but has been a really good passer and also blocking shots. Overall, it was a good step forward early in the season and we look to carry that momentum into our game Tuesday at Point Loma and then the start of conference play at SFU.”
Western Washington will play its first road games of the season this week, facing Point Loma in San Diego on Tuesday before opening its GNAC schedule against Simon Fraser on Saturday in Burnaby.