by US Fed News

This week... The Western Oregon University women's basketball team will play its final home game of the 2008-09 season Thursday, Mar. 5, when it takes on Western Washington at 7:00 p.m. The Wolves will then journey to Ellensburg, Wash., to face Central Washington for the season finale Saturday, Mar. 7, at 2:00 p.m. Western Washington preview... The Western Washington Vikings are 17-8 this season and in fourth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a 9-5 record. WWU is ranked fifth in the NCAA west region. As a team, the Vikings lead the GNAC with 4.56 blocks per game while ranking second in the conference in points (73.1), three-point percentage (38.7), rebounding margin (+4.4), field goal percentage defense (36.2) and three-point defense (28.7). Amanda Dunbar leads WWU and is ranked sixth in the GNAC with 13 points per game.

She also ranks in the top 10 in the conference in three-pointers per game (T-third, 1.92), assists (seventh, 3.20), free throw percentage (ninth, 77.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (ninth, 1.43). Jessica Summers is 11th in the league with 11.8 ppg while ranking fifth in rebounds (8.3) and sixth in free throw percentage (81.3). Western Washington extended its lead in the all-time series to 32-8 with a 83-67 win in Bellingham, Wash., Feb. 21. In the game, Western Oregon could not overcome a late 18-5 run by Western Washington as it fell on the road 83-67. Katie Torland led all scorers with 22 points but was limited to just two rebounds, matching her season-low. Shayla Corder registered 14 points for the Wolves as she went 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 at the line. Whitney Chase and Sara Zahler both chipped in with 10 points apiece and Chase led WOU with six boards. Amanda Dunbar put up 21 points for the Vikings in the win. After falling behind by as many as 13 in the first half the Wolves fought back to be down just five at the half (37-32). Western Oregon then opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take the lead at 39-37. The Vikings then answered with a 13-4 run to recapture the lead which it would never relinquish. Western Oregon would cut it to eight points at 58-50 but WWU answered with an 18-5 run to seal the game. Central Washington preview... Central Washington is 6-19 this season with a 3-11 record in the GNAC and a 2-7 mark at home. Last week, CWU split its games at home with the Alaska schools at home as it defeated Fairbanks 63-58 before falling to Anchorage 70-35. The Wildcats have lost four of their last five games overall. Jenn Jacobs is the only Wildcat player in double-figures with 10.3 ppg. Hilary Tanneberg is second on the team with 9.0 ppg and leads the team with 7.6 rebounds. As a team, CWU ranks last in the league with 56.5 ppg and eighth in field goal percentage (37.7). Central Washington leads the all-time series 16-8. In its game earlier this season in Monmouth (Feb. 7), Amanda Murdoch scored 22 points including tying a GNAC record by shooting 6-for-6 from three-point range to lead CWU to a 76-68 win. Western Oregon's Katie Torland led all scorers with 26 points and eight rebounds. She went 10-of-21 from the field, 3-for-6 from behind the arc and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Sara Zahler was the only other WOU player in double-figures with 12 points. Murdoch's six three-pointers are the most in GNAC history without a miss. She was just one of three Wildcats in double figures as Shaina Afoa had 16 points and Stephanie Wenke chipped in with 12. Down 67-50 with 6:38 remaining the Wolves put on a 16-7 run to narrow the gap to 74-66 with 1:51 left in the game but that is as close as they would get. The Western Oregon Wolves... Katie Torland is ranked second in the GNAC with 17.1 ppg and ninth with 7.5 rpg. She is one of two players in the GNAC averaging over 15 ppg. She is averaging 2.04 assists and 1.64 steals to lead the Wolves in all four categories. Torland also ranks in the top 10 in the GNAC in minutes (third, 31.72), free throw percentage (seventh, 79.7) and three-pointers per game (ninth, 1.64). Torland has scored in double-figures in 23 of 25 games this season. She notched a double-double against Northwest Nazarene (Feb. 26), with 13 points and 11 rebounds, her fifth of the season. Her 17.1 ppg rank her 56th in NCAA DII...Sara Zahler is averaging 8.1 ppg and 4.3 rebounds. She is third in the GNAC with a 51.9 three-point percentage. She also ranks eighth with 1.68 treys per game and 20th with a 42.9 field goal percentage...Whitney Chase is putting up 7.8 ppg while averaging 23.5 minutes. This year, she has shot 75.7 percent at the free throw line and 41.3 percent from the field. Her 75.7 mark at the free throw line places her 11th in the GNAC. Chase has 10 double-figure scoring games this season....Shayla Corder is averaging 7.7 points and 1.35 steals per game. She ranks 16th in the conference in steals and field goal percentage (44.0). Other Western Oregon notes... The Wolves rank 47th in NCAA DII with a 35.7 three-point percentage and 54th with a 74.1 free throw percentage...WOU ranks second in the GNAC in free throw percentage and fourth in three-point percentage...13 of Western Oregon's 17 losses have come against teams ranked in the top eight in the west region or DI opponents...The Wolves defeated the west region's No. 7 team, Montana State Billings at home 68-64, Jan 17...The Wolves are 6-3 this season when scoring more than 70 points...WOU is 7-0 this season when shooting a better field goal percentage than its opponents and 6-3 when shooting a better percentage from the three-point line...This year's squad made history when it earned three victories in its first six games against NCAA Division II opponents, this is the first time that has happened since WOU moved to DII in 2000-01...Western Oregon has competed in its toughest schedule as a DII team, by playing 24 of its 25 games against DI or DII opponents...WOU has outrebounded its opponents in seven of its eight wins. Last week... WOU lost a pair of home games to regionally ranked opponents as it fell to No. 7 Northwest Nazarene 69-47 and to No. 1 Seattle Pacific 70-39. Against NNU, the Crusaders jumped out to a 14-0 lead as it went on to defeat WOU 69-47. WOU shot 26.5 percent from the field (13-of-49) compared to 50 percent for NNU (29-of-58). The Crusaders also held the advantage from behind the arc as it made 6-of-13 shots compared to just 2-of-15 for the Wolves. On Saturday, No. 1 regionally ranked Seattle Pacific held Western Oregon to 27.5 percent shooting (14-of-51) as it made 44.1 percent of its shots (26-of-59) from the floor. Torland led all scorers with 18 points and had a team-best six rebounds.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

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