No.5 WWU on road to face Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene

Coming off a home sweep of its top three conference rivals, the Western Washington University women's basketball team takes to the road this week for Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests against Central Washington University on Thursday, Jan.24 (7 p.m.) and Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday, Jan. 26 (7 p.m.).

A webcast and live stats for both games can be found at www.wwuvikings.com. The Vikings, who have moved up 15 spots over the last three weeks and are ranked No.5 in the latest USA Today Sports/ESPN NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, are 13-2 overall and lead the GNAC standings with a 7-0 record. They are working on a seven-game winning streak.

Last week, WWU rallied past Seattle Pacific, 61-44, and held off Montana State Billings, 78-76, running its home victory string to 13 over the last two years. The Vikings, who are 9-0 at Carver Gym this season, opened the home stand with a 59-57 buzzer-beating win on Jan. 12 over No.7 Simon Fraser, which is second in the league standings at 6-1.

WWU began its campaign with six victories, all at home, before losing twice in northern California.

The Vikings started their current win streak with close decisions over two Top 25-ranked teams at the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic, prevailing against No.6 Washburn KS, 64-62, and No.15 Grand Canyon, 72-68 in overtime. They then swept a two-game road trip in Alaska for the second time in three seasons.

WWU tops the GNAC in field-goal percentage defense (36.2) and is second in scoring defense (58.7), field-goal percentage (43.9), blocked shots (4.2) and assists (18.0).