AZUSA, Calif. – The Western Washington University women’s basketball team suffered its first defeat of the season on Friday night, falling 56-49 after a close battle against UC San Diego in a West Region Crossover Classic matchup hosted by Azusa Pacific at the Felix Event Center.
The Vikings (2-1) battled back from a nine-point halftime deficit to lead briefly during the third quarter and after UC San Diego had extended its lead again, WWU came within five points during the fourth quarter but the Tritons were able to maintain the advantage and improve to 3-0 on the young season.
Senior forward Hannah Stipanovich (St. Louis, MO/Clayton/MSU Denver) was the leading WWU scorer for the third consecutive game in totaling 13 points to go along with a career-high 14 rebounds, including 10 offensive rebounds. Sophomore point guard Dani Iwami (Seal Beach, CA/Los Alamitos/Hawai’i Pacific) joined Stipanovich in double figures with 12 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Junior guardBobbi Westendorf (Auburn, WA/Kentridge/Tacoma CC) finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds while freshman guardEmma Duff (Black Hills, W/Tumwater) added 7 points and 4 rebounds.
Trailing 30-21 at halftime, the Vikings opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run, taking their first lead since midway through the second quarter on a 3-pointer fromDuff for a 33-32 advantage with 5:28 to play in the third quarter. After trading baskets and WWU leading 35-34, a 7-0 spurt for the Tritons put UC San Diego up 41-35 before a 3-pointer fromWestendorf in the waning seconds of the period brought WWU within 41-38 at the end of the quarter.
A 10-1 run for UC San Diego to start the fourth quarter helped the Tritons take control and open their largest lead of the game at 51-39 with 5:44 left in the period. The Vikings responded with 7 unanswered points, coming within 51-46 at the 4:18 mark on a 3-pointer from Iwami. Another 3-pointer fromIwami with 1:45 to go brought WWU within 55-49, but the Vikings were unable to connect on their final eight field goal attempts of the night, including a late barrage of five 3-point attempts over the final 25 seconds.
The Vikings had used a 9-0 run during the first quarter to open an early 12-6 lead, and later in the second quarter led 19-16 with 6:06 remaining before UC San Diego used a 12-0 run to go up 28-16 en route to a 30-21 halftime advantage.
WWU shot 22.7% (17-for-75) from the field, making 7-of-26 (26.9%) 3-point attempts and hitting 8-of-9 (88.9%) free throws. The Tritons shot 35.5% (22-for-62), including 4-of-21 (19.0%) from long range. UC San Diego made 8-of-19 (42.1%) of its free-throw attempts.
Forward Dalayna Sampton led the Tritons with a game-high 16 points and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds while guard Kayla Sato added 12 points and 6 rebounds. Forward Mikayla Williams finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds while guard Taylor Tanita added 9 points and 4 rebounds for UC San Diego.
WWU held a 53-49 edge in rebounds, including a 25-16 advantage in offensive rebounds led by the 10 fromStipanovich.
WWU will return to action Saturday night, facing tournament host Azusa Pacific at 7:30 pm at the West Region Crossover Classic. UC San Diego will face Seattle Pacific in the first game of the evening, set to start at 5:30 pm.