Western women’s basketball coach Carmen Dolfo is closing in on career win No. 700, which puts her in rarified company. Going into the 2024–25 season, she was No. 19 in overall victories among active coaches, all divisions, on a list topped by UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who reached the No. 1 spot with 1,217 wins over 40 seasons last month.
Coaching in her 34th season, Dolfo’s record is 696-266 going into Friday, Dec. 20’s game against Hawaii Hilo. Among active NCAA Division II women’s basketball coaches, Dolfo is fifth in victories, No. 10 in winning percentage. She has 24 seasons of 20 or more wins.
Thing is, this season so far doesn’t feel like much of a celebration. Picked to finish No. 1 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Western’s lineup is decimated by injury. Dolfo can remember only one other season resembling this one, when a season’s high hopes were dashed by November.
At least three of four players, including three post players and a guard, are out for the season. That includes including former Lynden Christian star guard Libby Stump. Two second-year walk-ons have seen game action. Junior forward Alyson Deaver, a 6-foot-0 transfer from Utah Tech, is playing center. Volleyball player Anna VanderYacht, a junior who last played basketball for Lynden High four years ago, was asked to join the team.
Dolfo is thankful for four male practice players who give the team enough bodies to scrimmage starters in practice, along with first-year assistant coach Katrina Gimmaka, a former player who must wish she still had eligibility left.
“It’s not something you think is going to happen, and it does, and it happens to some significant players,” Dolfo said. “Everyone is just trying to take one day at a time and just fight as much as we can and make it good.”
In the season’s biggest game to date, against nationally ranked No. 3 GNAC rival Montana State Billings Thursday, Dec. 5, three players fouled out. Despite a thin bench, Western lost by only six, 64-58.
The Vikings (5-4 overall, 1-1 conference), 2022 national runners-up and three-time Elite 8 qualifiers, are making do. Deaver, a gritty all-arounder, leads the team with a 14.8 scoring average and was named conference player of the week. Guard Mason Oberg, playing on a repaired knee from high school, was averaged 36.8 minutes a game going into Dec. 7’s decisive 83-68 win over Seattle Pacific.
“I just am really proud of them for how they’re not whining about it,” Dolfo said. “No one’s talking about it. It is what it is, and we’ll have to figure it out.”
Dolfo jokes No. 700 might take a while. Don’t believe her. On a team seemingly held together by K-tape and surgical stitches, expect Dolfo and crew to get as much from their players as is possible. You don’t get to 700 wins any other way.
Men’s hoops team drops two games by a total four points
Western dropped to 0-2 in the GNAC (6-3 overall) after losses to Central Washington, 79-76, in Ellensburg Dec. 7 and Northwest Nazarene, 75-74 in Nampa, Idaho, Dec. 5. Against Central, Western held a 12-point halftime lead before losing as the Wildcats went to 6-3 overall and 2-0 conference. Redshirt freshman Grant Kepley, a 2023 Sehome grad, led with 19 points and 8 rebounds against CWU, while Dajon Lott led Western against NNU with 25 points. Will Wilson added 23 points.
OTHER NUMBERS:
10 – 3-pointers by Western’s women’s basketball team, tying a season high, in its 83-68 win over Seattle Pacific Dec. 7 at Carver Gym.
3 – Winning streak by Western’s women (5-4 overall, 1-1 conference) before being snapped by MSU-Billings in a 64-58 loss Dec. 5
57.1 – shooting percentage in the first half for the Viking men, compared to 34.6 in the second half in the late-game loss to Central Washington.
BEST BETS
Sunday, Dec. 15, 3 p.m. – Men’s basketball vs. Langara College, Bellingham. A rare Sunday matinee against non-conference Langara from Vancouver, B.C. before the Dec. 19–20 Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic games against Lubbock Christian and St. Mary’s, followed by the holiday break. Next home game: 7 p.m. on Jan. 2 vs. Alaska Fairbanks
Tickets. See wwuvikings.com/Tickets or in person one hour prior to game time.
Parking. Free for sports. For basketball, lot 19G for general audience; 9G for season ticket holders. See the map at wwu.edu/parking.
Can’t make it? Stream it
All home games and most road contests are streamed via a live and free YouTube webcast. Find links online at cascadiadaily.com.
If you have a smart TV, search for “WWU Athletics” on YouTube.
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Meri-Jo Borzilleri is a freelance journalist and former 20-year sports reporter.
