Western women’s basketball is after some history.
The Vikings are headed to their first national championship match following a 74-68 victory over top-seed North Georgia in the NCAA women’s Division II Final Four.
Western trailed early, but as it has all season, the team’s depth and defense carried the Vikings to victory.
“My team just dialed in, they played amazing defense and I’m just so proud,” Western head coach Carmen Dolfo said.
North Georgia led 23-19 after the first quarter, but Western rattled off a 6-0 run near its end, and the momentum carried over into the second.
Sophomore forward Brooke Walling reentered the game after sitting with foul trouble and tied it at 25-25 with a layup. Junior Katrina Gimmaka gave the Vikings a 27-25 lead about midway through the second quarter, but the Nighthawks retook the lead at 38-37 at the half.
Western got huge contributions off the bench from Gimmaka, freshman Truitt Reilly and sophomore Carley Zaragoza after Walling’s early fouls.
Western Washington University junior forward Katrina Gimmaka puts up a shot against North Georgia in Wednesday’s 74-68 WWU win, which sends the Vikings to their first NCAA Division II national title game Friday. (Photo by Michael Wade)
“Truitt Reilly did awesome and Carley [Zaragoza] did as well,” Dolfo said of having Walling sit with two fouls. “Brooke has confidence in them and we kept her rested for the second half and she stepped up and her defense was amazing.”
Senior Emma Duff said the Vikings’ depth is what makes them so special.
“We’re so deep that if someone gets in foul trouble it doesn’t really shake us too much,” Duff said. “We have people waiting to come in and they’re ready for it. We go against each other every day in practice. If you can guard Brooke in practice you can guard anyone.”
After a pair of traded baskets to open the third quarter, Western rolled into a 9-0 run and 48-40 lead early in the second half. The Nighthawks responded with a 3-pointer, but in came the stalwart Vikings’ defense.
Western’s answer to North Georgia breaking its run was shutting the Nighthawks down for the next six-and-a-half minutes, not surrendering a single basket, giving up only five points at the free-throw line down that stretch.
The Vikings led 56-51 heading into the final 10 minutes of the game. Ten minutes away from punching their ticket to the national championship for the first time.
Carmon Dolfo, the 31-year Western Washington University women’s coach, leads her team into its first national championship game Friday in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Wade)
A bank shot 3-pointer from junior Avery Dykstra put Western up by nine in the fourth quarter, its biggest lead of the game, and from then on, it felt like the Vikings were on their way to Friday’s championship.
Western led by as many as 12 in the final quarter and sealed the game at the charity stripe in the closing minutes.
In her 31st year leading the Vikings, Dolfo will finally be coaching in a national championship game.
“It’s something you dream of,” Dolfo said. “This team is just special. They care for each other, play for each other and sacrifice for each other and we’ve had a lot of ups and downs. They’ve stuck together through the whole thing. I’m so excited and so excited to get to do it with them.”
Walling, a transfer from Fresno State University, said everything has seemed to work out with her decision to play for Western.
“Coming from a different school, having a new team to get to know, it was definitely nerve-wracking, but the minute I got to campus I called it home and it worked out, I’m playing for a national championship on Friday,” Walling said.
Walling scored a team-high 19 points on 7-10 shooting to lead the Vikings on offense and also pulled down five rebounds. Duff scored 18 and grabbed 9 rebounds. Dykstra scored nine and Gimmaka added eight points off the bench.
Western will play No. 3 Glenville State (West Virginia) at 5 p.m. (Pacific) Friday for the Division II national championship. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Western Washington sophomore forward Brooke Walling celebrates the Vikings’ 74-68 victory over North Georgia, which sends the Vikings to their first NCAA Division II title match on Friday. In spite of first-half foul trouble, Walling tallied 19 points, five rebounds and five steals. (Photo by Michael Wade)
