"Western woman thump the Wildcats" -- Jan. 24, 2006

By C. Jennings Breakey
The Western Front

Captivated by the feisty full-court defense of Western guard Samantha Hubbard, Western fans seemed energetic when the Vikings defended its hoop Saturday afternoon against rival Central Washington University.

The 5-foot-6-inch senior pestered Wildcats guards from rim to rim across Haggen Court, and thrilled Carver Gym’s crowd with six assists, six rebounds and three steals — tiring Central with relentless defense en route to a 65-45 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win.

“That’s Sam’s game right there,” Western senior forward Tina Donahue said, who contributed 11 points. “That’s the kind of basketball we all like to play.”

Hubbard, who finished with five points, said her defensive role with the team — pressing the opposition for the full length of the court — is demanding, but playing hard is her passion.

“I don’t play for any other reason,” Hubbard said. “That’s what I love to do.”

Western, 15-1 overall and 7-0 in the conference, wasn’t playing up to its potential during the first half. The Vikings shot a mere 32.1 percent from the field during the first 20 minutes — far below its 48.4 percent season average coming into the game.

But Western battled through the game and overcame the Wildcats, who are 8-6 overall and 3-4 in GNAC.

“Sam always keys our defense,” Western head coach Carmen Dolfo said. “We could not get the flow offensively this game, but we definitely did a good job defensively.”

After winning the opening tip-off, Western struggled getting its offense started. The Vikings missed its first five shots and botched a lay-up under the hoop before Western senior guard Kelly Dykstra sunk a jumper to put Western on the scoreboard.

The Wildcats lurked behind the Vikings throughout the first half, but never trailed by more than eight points.

In the final seconds leading to halftime, Central forward Hanna Hull dished the ball to forward Stephanie Mckinney on the right wing, who nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to narrow Western’s lead to 27-23.

The Wildcats came within one point of the Vikings 45 seconds after halftime, but Dykstra took over from there, scoring 11 of her 18 points in the second half. Western steadily widened the scoring gap and closed out the Wildcats.

Dykstra finished the game 7 of 14 from the field, making two three-pointers and matching Western senior center Courtney Clapp with a team-high nine rebounds.

Coming out strong in the second half was vital for the Vikings, Dykstra said.

“We just started attacking more, and so we were able to pitch out and get more open shots rather than having to force things up,” she said. “I think we just started playing our game.”

Donahue said Western players were just trying to make extra passes in the second half to find open shots, and a number of those passes fell in the hands of Dykstra.

“That happened to be her, and she was hitting her shots,” Donahue said. “She was on tonight, so we were just trying to get the ball to her. Whatever is working for us is what we go with.”

Jared Yoakum / The Western Front

Western senior center Courtney Clapp goes up against Central forward Hilary Tanneberg during the women’s game on Saturday.