Carver Gym was jumping on back to back nights with both Western basketball teams picking up big wins this week. On Wednesday night, the men’s team beat state-rival Central Washington 66-62 in front of a televised audience on FSN. On Thursday night, the women’s team cruised to 67-57 win over Alaska Anchorage to claim the GNAC title and win their 17th consecutive game.
http://wwuvikings.cstv.com
http://wwuvikings.cstv.com
Men slam rival Wildcats
With the spotlight on and the Northwest watching, Western came to play in the biggest game of the year against the conference leading Central Washington Wildcats. The Vikings nearly let a double-digit lead slip away but hit some key free throws down the stretch to snap Central’s 11 game winning streak.
Western junior guard John Allen led the Vikings with 18 points and senior forward Michael Duty added 17 points. Both Allen and Duty made all four free throws taken in the last 20 seconds of the game that proved to be the margin of victory.
The scene at the end of the game showed just how big this win was. When the final buzzer sounded, the fans stormed the court and all that could be seen on TV was a sea of blue. Not only did the Vikings beat their division rival with home crowd support, but jumped into sole possession of second place in the GNAC.
But when Saturday rolled around and Northwest Nazarene came into town, Western could not carry the momentum of Central’s win into the weekend. Western’s six game winning streak was snapped with a 75-69 defeat to NNU. The loss brought them to a tie for second with Alaska Anchorage with two games remaining, but the Vikings do hold the tiebreaker over UAA. With two regular season games left, the Vikings next game is a rematch with Seattle Pacific who has lost three straight games to fall one game behind Western in the conference. It was SPU that beat Western on FSN earlier in the season. Western plays SPU Tuesday night at 7pm, the final home game of the season. No doubt the blue crew will come out strong for a big game on Senior Night.
GNAC Standings (as of 2/20/11)
Central Washington 14-2 21-3
Alaska Anchorage 11-5 19-8
Western Washington 11-5 16-8
Seattle Pacific 10-6 16-8
*www.gnacsports.com
Women’s winning streak continues
With home wins on Thursday and Saturday night, the Vikings have brought their winning streak to 18 games, while clinching first place in the GNAC along the way. With every win, the Vikings look more and more like the UCONN Huskies who earlier in the season set the NCAA record with 90 straight wins. Thursday’s win over Alaska Anchorage, who is second in the conference, assured Western home court advantage throughout the GNAC tournament, starting Feb. 28.
On Saturday, Western beat up Alaska Fairbanks 68-44, to run their home court winning streak to 24. Fairbanks still has just one win on the season and was no match for the Vikings who have lost only one game this year.
Saturday’s game was the final regular home game for four Viking players, all of whom have been instrumental to Western’s success this year. The four seniors are Amanda Dunbar, Gabby Wade, Lauren Hefflin, and Megan Pinske. Dunbar leads the team in scoring with nearly 14 points per game, and earlier in the season set the school record for three-pointers made.
Western is ranked No. 6 in the NCAA D-II Top 25 poll and No. 2 in the West Region poll. The Vikings finish up the season with two road games before the playoffs begin. Here is to a magical run in the NCAA tournament in hopes that this year’s women’s basketball team is the best in school history and can bring home a championship.
GNAC Standings (as of 2/20/11)
Western Washington 16-0 23-1
Alaska Anchorage 13-4 14-2
Seattle Pacific 11-5 17-7
*www.gnacsports.com
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