Sophomore guard Emma Duff went 5-6 from the free throw line against SPU, helping the Vikings post an impressive 90.0 percent shooting percentage from the line for the game. // Claudia Cooper
By Sarah Nichols and Mitch Farley
The Western women’s basketball team defended their home court in a victory against the Saint Martin’s University Saints in their Thursday, Feb. 14 game.
The Vikings started off slow, trailing behind the Saints with a first quarter score of 13-16, but then found their groove offensively and zeroed in on their defense.
With five minutes left in the second quarter, the Vikings started taking the lead. They put together a 16-point run and headed into halftime with a score of 34-24.
Once the Vikings took the lead, they held onto it, ending the game with a final score of 66-50 while holding their opponents to just 22.4 percent shooting from the field for the night.
Junior forward Anna Schwecke, was a big part of the Vikings’ 11 rebound advantage and had a perfect shooting night from the floor, going six-of-six on field goals.
“I have been working on slowing down my moves to the basket and reading the defense, knowing when to kick-out,” Schwecke said of her 13-point, 10-rebound performance. “I took advantage when there was a mismatch on one side. When they weren’t doubling it was easy to score.”
Head coach Carmen Dolfo had high praise for the team’s performance.
“I thought our defense got us going tonight and allowed us opportunities on the offensive end,” Dolfo said. “Anna Schwecke was great on the boards and had a double-double. Our guards were really aggressive to the basket tonight and it was good to see them take that approach. It was a good team victory.”
The Vikings had a total of 23 fouls by the end of the game, giving the Saints multiple opportunities to make up points at the free-throw line.
“We fouled too much. We [allowed] 25 points off of free throws, so that’s something that we have to fix,” junior guard Lexi Bland said.
The Vikings also won 60-43 against Seattle Pacific University on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Sam Carver Gymnasium.
The in-conference win moves the Vikings to 14-10 overall with a 9-7 in-conference record. The Vikings are ranked fifth out of 11 teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
The Vikings’ scoring efforts were led by three players. Junior center Anna Schwecke scored a game-high 16 points, sophomore guard Emma Duff had 15 points on the night and junior guard Lexie Bland had 14 points.
Bland not only scored, but also created scoring opportunities for her teammates by contributing a game-high of four assists for the Vikings.
The Falcons’ efforts were led by sophomore guard Kaprice Boston who scored 10 points. Boston also led the Falcons in rebounds with six on the evening.
The game got off to a slow start with both teams failing to find the bottom of the net on several possessions. After both sides committed turnovers, Duff scored the first points of the game with a 3-pointer.
The teams were evenly matched through the first part of the game, with a tough defense limiting scoring for both sides. At the end of the first quarter, the score was tied at 13 points.
The Vikings started to pull away in the second quarter with strong offense from Schwecke and Bland. Bland hit two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Vikings momentum.
The Vikings continued to build on their earlier success after halftime, and stretched their lead to 14 points by the end of the third quarter.
The Vikings committed a whopping 23 turnovers on the night, six of which came from Duff. SPU scored 19 points off turnovers.
The Vikings played well on the boards and out-rebounded SPU with a total of 42 rebounds on the night, including 11 offensive rebounds. Comparatively, SPU had 23 total rebounds. This discrepancy led to the Vikings scoring eight second-chance points.
Now on a two-game winning streak, the Vikings will travel to Ellensburg to take on Central Washington University on Thursday, Feb. 21.
There are four games remaining before the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament begins next month. Western is hosting the tournament this year, which begins on March 7.
By Sarah Nichols and Mitch Farley
The Western women’s basketball team defended their home court in a victory against the Saint Martin’s University Saints in their Thursday, Feb. 14 game.
The Vikings started off slow, trailing behind the Saints with a first quarter score of 13-16, but then found their groove offensively and zeroed in on their defense.
With five minutes left in the second quarter, the Vikings started taking the lead. They put together a 16-point run and headed into halftime with a score of 34-24.
Once the Vikings took the lead, they held onto it, ending the game with a final score of 66-50 while holding their opponents to just 22.4 percent shooting from the field for the night.
Junior forward Anna Schwecke, was a big part of the Vikings’ 11 rebound advantage and had a perfect shooting night from the floor, going six-of-six on field goals.
“I have been working on slowing down my moves to the basket and reading the defense, knowing when to kick-out,” Schwecke said of her 13-point, 10-rebound performance. “I took advantage when there was a mismatch on one side. When they weren’t doubling it was easy to score.”
Head coach Carmen Dolfo had high praise for the team’s performance.
“I thought our defense got us going tonight and allowed us opportunities on the offensive end,” Dolfo said. “Anna Schwecke was great on the boards and had a double-double. Our guards were really aggressive to the basket tonight and it was good to see them take that approach. It was a good team victory.”
The Vikings had a total of 23 fouls by the end of the game, giving the Saints multiple opportunities to make up points at the free-throw line.
“We fouled too much. We [allowed] 25 points off of free throws, so that’s something that we have to fix,” junior guard Lexi Bland said.
The Vikings also won 60-43 against Seattle Pacific University on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Sam Carver Gymnasium.
The in-conference win moves the Vikings to 14-10 overall with a 9-7 in-conference record. The Vikings are ranked fifth out of 11 teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
The Vikings’ scoring efforts were led by three players. Junior center Anna Schwecke scored a game-high 16 points, sophomore guard Emma Duff had 15 points on the night and junior guard Lexie Bland had 14 points.
Bland not only scored, but also created scoring opportunities for her teammates by contributing a game-high of four assists for the Vikings.
The Falcons’ efforts were led by sophomore guard Kaprice Boston who scored 10 points. Boston also led the Falcons in rebounds with six on the evening.
The game got off to a slow start with both teams failing to find the bottom of the net on several possessions. After both sides committed turnovers, Duff scored the first points of the game with a 3-pointer.
The teams were evenly matched through the first part of the game, with a tough defense limiting scoring for both sides. At the end of the first quarter, the score was tied at 13 points.
The Vikings started to pull away in the second quarter with strong offense from Schwecke and Bland. Bland hit two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Vikings momentum.
The Vikings continued to build on their earlier success after halftime, and stretched their lead to 14 points by the end of the third quarter.
The Vikings committed a whopping 23 turnovers on the night, six of which came from Duff. SPU scored 19 points off turnovers.
The Vikings played well on the boards and out-rebounded SPU with a total of 42 rebounds on the night, including 11 offensive rebounds. Comparatively, SPU had 23 total rebounds. This discrepancy led to the Vikings scoring eight second-chance points.
Now on a two-game winning streak, the Vikings will travel to Ellensburg to take on Central Washington University on Thursday, Feb. 21.
There are four games remaining before the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament begins next month. Western is hosting the tournament this year, which begins on March 7.
