Western reaches GNAC Tournament title game after pounding MSUB, 76-49

Guard Corinn Waltrip (So., Tigard, OR) and forward Kristin Schramm (Jr., Chelan) combined to hit 11 3-pointers en route to career-high scoring nights, leading top-seeded Western Washington University to a 76-49 victory over Montana State University Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal game Wednesday at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the WWU campus.

Waltrip and Schramm each finished with 23 points for the Vikings, who improved to 26-2 overall. Western is No.11 in this week's Women's Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today/ESPN/NCAA Division II Top 25 and No.2 in the West Region rating.

The Vikings will face No.2-seed Alaska Anchorage in the GNAC Tournament championship game Saturday at 7 p.m. The Seawolves rallied from 19 points down to defeat Seattle Pacific, 68-66, in the other semifinal.

MSUB, the No.4 seed in the conference tourney, finished its season 16-12. Forward Jenny Heringer had 11 points for the Yellowjackets, and center Kayla Ryan added 10.

The Yellowjackets had forced overtime when they visited Bellingham in December and lost by just six, 73-67, last week at Billings, but Western took control early Wednesday by hitting its first seven 3-point attempts. Waltrip made four and Schramm came off the bench to sink three as the Vikings opened up a 33-11 lead midway through the first half.

Read the rest of this story on the website for WWU Athletics.