Playing for its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship since 2014, Western Washington’s conference-leading defense could not bail out the Vikings this time.
A painful shooting performance, their second in three games, and record-setting rebounding from in-state rival Central Washington, doomed the Vikings. They lost 57-46, to Central in the GNAC title game Saturday night at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey.
No. 3 Central (23-7), boasting three first-team conference selections and the nation’s leading rebounder in 6-foot-3 center Samantha Bowman, won the first GNAC tournament title in team history. The Wildcats also win an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championship tournament.
Western, the top seed, reached the title game for the eighth time, but has not won since back-to-back championships in 2013 and 2014. The Vikings are now 2-6 in GNAC title games.
Bowman had 12 points and 23 rebounds, a GNAC women’s tournament title game record. Her regular-season 15.4 rebound average led NCAA Division II teams.
For Western (20-5 overall), it was another night of bewilderingly missed layups, short-range shots and 3-pointers. The Vikings shot just 25% from the field on 16 of 64 shooting. Western’s 46 points, including going 2-for-25 (8%) from 3-point range, were the fewest it has scored all season. Western entered the tournament with a conference-leading 44.9% shooting average.
“Some nights you’re going to just have a rough shooting night,” said Western coach Carmen Dolfo. “This just isn’t the night you want it to happen to you.”
Veteran Western Washington University women’s coach Carmen Dolfo would like to have a word with the official. (Photo by Ron Smith)
Led by Bowman, Central outrebounded Western, 47-31, collecting 38 rebounds on the defensive end. Western’s solid defense helped make it a low-scoring game, forcing 19 turnovers while committing only nine. But missed shots that wound up in Central’s hands made a comeback difficult.
“We could’ve crashed (the boards) harder,” Dolfo said.
The Vikings will have another chance to recapture their shooting groove. Their season is not over. Ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II West Region coming into the GNAC tournament, Western Washington is a likely at-large selection for the NCAA West Regional Tournament that begins late next week. The draw for dates and sites will be announced Sunday night. Western expects to be on the road.
Regional winners from across the nation qualify for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight tournament that will determine the national champion.
Western will have to regroup from a difficult tournament that saw the Vikings scrape for wins in the quarterfinal and semifinal games. Despite coming out strong early against Central, Western relinquished the lead with fewer than five minutes left in the second quarter and never regained it.
“Some nights you’re going to just have a rough shooting night. This just isn’t the night you want it to happen to you.” — Western coach Carmen Dolfo
The 6-3 sophomore forward Brooke Walling had a stellar night, leading Western with 18 points and 7 rebounds. Emma Duff added 14 points and seven rebounds and senior guard Gracie Castaneda scored 10 points. Central was led by 14 points from Kassidy Malcolm, the GNAC player of the year. Jenna Troy added 13 points.
The first half ended with Central leading, 28-22, after an 11-0 run put them ahead after trailing for most of the half. Its first lead came with 4:17 left in the half.
A Walling layin saw Western close to within three, 28-25, early in the third quarter, but missed 3-pointers and foul trouble to Vikings star Duff made a sustained run difficult. Western missed guard Mollie Olson, out with a lingering knee injury.
With Duff sitting out a chunk of the third and fourth quarters with foul trouble — she fouled out with 50.6 seconds left — Central used rebounds and key 3-pointers to build their lead as Western’s shots continued to miss their mark. The Vikings surged to within six points with 2:38 left until Kizzah Maltezo’s 3-pointer, one of four made by Central, pushed the lead to nine.
Central shot 40% from the floor. Western’s press late in the game produced turnovers, but not many points.
“We didn’t capitalize,” Dolfo said. “I think we missed three little easy layins from our press at the end to get us back into it. We just couldn’t hit a wide-open layin.”
