The Doug Lange Network 

March 7, 2019 

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BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The No. 6 seed Western Washington University women’s basketball team defeated No. 3 seed Simon Fraser 72-69 on Thursday afternoon in a quarterfinal game of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on WECU Court in Carver Gym. 

 

The Vikings (17-12) advance to the semifinals where they will face No. 2 seed and No. 9 nationally-ranked Northwest Nazarene on Friday at 2:15 pm. No. 4 seed Central Washington defeated No. 5 Concordia 68-65 in the first quarterfinal game, and they will face No. 1 seed Alaska Anchorage in the noon game. WWU is serving as the host for the 2019 GNAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.

 

Playing as the away team in their home gym due to tournament seeding, the Vikings defeated the Clan for the third time this season while improving to 11-5 all-time in GNAC Championships play. WWU shot 49.0% for the game (24-for-49), while holding SFU to 37.1% (23-for-62) shooting.

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Junior center Anna Schwecke led the Vikings with 19 points, also contributing 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots in 31 minutes. She was 5-for-10 from the field and 9-for-9 from the free throw game, while scoring 13 of her 19 points in the second half. In three games vs. SFU this season, Schwecke scored 69 points for a 23.0 points per game average.

 

Freshman guard Avery Dykstra scored a career-high 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting, while playing in 39 of the 40 minutes. Junior guard Lexie Bland also reached double-figures in scoring with 10 points and sophomore guard Emma Duff had 9 points and tied her career-high with 5 assists. 

 

Listen to our postgame interview with WWU Coach Carmen Dolfo

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WWU’s balanced offensive performance featured seven players with 6-or-more points. Sophomore forward Kelsey Rogers led the Vikings with 6 rebounds. 

 

Simon Fraser was led by a game-high 20 points by sophomore guard Jessica Jones, who was 7-for-14 from the field and 3-for-7 from 3-point range before fouling out with 51-seconds remaining in the game. Samantha Beauchamp grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds, as SFU held a 34-32 advantage over the Vikings in rebounding.

 

UP NEXT

The Vikings will take on No. 2 seed and No. 9 nationally-ranked Northwest Nazarene on Friday at 2:15 pm in the semifinal round of the GNAC Championships. No. 1 seed Alaska Anchorage will face Central Washington in the 12 pm game to open play on the second day of the 2019 GNAC Basketball Championships.

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-- @WWUWBB --