Western Washington University’s men’s and women’s basketball programs are headed into the winter break with nearly identical records.
Both teams have won at least 75% of their games through the season’s first month-and-change. Yet, their success has come in vastly different ways — and with varying setbacks.
The women’s team is 9-2 overall (1-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) as they return from a three-game slate in California and head into a two-and-a-half-week break.
Western’s men’s team is 9-3 (1-0 GNAC) after playing just three games in December and they, too, don’t return to play until Thursday, Jan. 4.
When each team returns to the court, they will jump headfirst into a 17-game league slate that will determine whether their postseason dreams stay alive or get pushed to next season.
Defense, defense, defense
Any local Western women’s basketball fan knows defense is head coach Carmen Dolfo’s bread and butter. It travels, while offense can be unpredictable.
Dolfo said the team’s only two losses came because of them not playing the “kind of defense that we wanted to.” In the wins, it’s what’s saved them from poor shooting nights. The defense, in conjunction with sharing the ball (four players averaging more than eight points per game), is the team’s backbone.
The Vikings lost their first game of three in California on Thursday, Dec. 14 to Dominican University, 74-69 — snapping a five-game win streak. Dolfo said the game was a wake-up call for the team.
“It was nice to be able to have another two [games] to make the adjustments that we needed to, and just keep reminding ourselves of what makes us good,” Dolfo said.
Senior post Brooke Walling, an All-West Region first-team selection last season, has led the Vikings on both sides of the ball. Walling, who is currently averaging 17.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, is on pace to be the first Western women’s player to average a double-double since Gina Sampson in 1995–96 (17.5 ppg, 12.9 rpg).
Defensively, Walling is averaging 2.9 blocks and 1.6 steals per game — leading the team by a wide margin in the former category.
“Brooke does it all,” Dolfo said. “She’s incredibly humble and is very team-oriented, and so that’s sometimes rare to see the whole package of just everything together, and Brooke has it.”
Sophomore guard Mason Oberg’s average minutes have nearly doubled since last season, and she has responded. Oberg is averaging 12.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.8 rebounds per game.
Junior forward Aspen Garrison, Dolfo’s daughter, and junior guard Avery Dykstra are each scoring north of eight points per game.
“We are lucky to get some great players back, and I think our new players are slowly learning, you know, what we do,” Dolfo added. “A lot of them have had great games for us and added a lot.”
Heading into the full league schedule, Dolfo said they will have to be ready for any team’s best on any given night in a competitive GNAC hierarchy.
Western is currently in fourth place in the standings, particularly because it is one of just two teams in the league that’s played only one conference game. Only Central Washington (10-3, 2-0 GNAC) and Montana State Billings (11-3, 2-0 GNAC) have more total wins.
“[Montana State Billings is] going to be tough. You could just go down the line,” Dolfo said. “We certainly can’t move to the next until we take care of what’s right in front of us.”
Western’s next game will be on the road against Alaska Anchorage (6-5, 0-2 GNAC) at 8 p.m. Pacific on Jan. 4.
Mental, physical fortitude will dictate men’s season
Tony Dominguez, Western’s men’s basketball head coach, spent all offseason trying to figure out what went wrong a season ago.
The Vikings began the season 8-3 ahead of winter break before finishing the season 15-13 overall, and 8-10 in league contests. Eight of those 13 total losses were by five points or less.
“We were ahead in almost every one of the games that we had lost, all the way up until about the final minute, minute and a half,” Dominguez said. “So, then you lost by a bucket or two, and it’s, I don’t want to say devastating, but it kind of gets in your mind.”
It was an issue of mental equilibrium, Dominguez said, and the Vikings’ head coach (now in his 12th season at the helm) is working to get it corrected in this year’s squad — which has been working.
“We have a different mentality this year. [It] doesn’t mean that these guys are better than last year’s group or whatever … at this point, we seem like we’re not as anxious — at the end of games we’re just a little bit more mentally focused.”
It’s that mental toughness that will help the team avoid a similar collapse after the season’s midway point, Dominguez said.
The team’s stars of new and old are also helping keep the team focused and productive. The Vikings have five players averaging double-digit points in junior guards Kai Johnson (21.8 ppg) and Will Wilson (17.2), senior forward Jonathan Ned (13.5), sophomore forward BJ Kolly (11.9) and redshirt freshman guard Tijan Saine (10.5).
Junior forward Nic Welp is just below that mark at 9.9 points per game, and he is averaging a team-high 7.3 rebounds.
Johnson and Wilson have been the team’s clear offensive leaders. Currently, Johnson is on pace to be the first Vikings men’s player to average more than 20 points per game since Taylor Stafford in 2016–17. He is also averaging 4.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game, and notched a career-high 36 points versus George Fox on Sunday, Dec. 17.
“[Johnson] really worked hard on his game [in the offseason]. He’s really a student of the game,” Dominguez said. “His leadership has been immense for us.”
Wilson, a first-year transfer from Mount Hood Community College, could score even more than he is, Dominguez said, but he is focused on making the right plays — a product of winning being his top priority.
“We can always go find a talented guy, but he was really about [the] team,” Dominguez said. “He really wanted to go and try to win somewhere.”
The team has dealt with injuries in the early season, spurring various starting lineups. Eight players have started at least two games. Kolly, who is dealing with a nagging knee injury, has been in and out of the rotation. Health is something Dominguez hopes the team will get back over the extended break.
Like Dolfo, Dominguez said his team will have to treat every league opponent the same if they hope to reach the postseason. Western is third in the league standings behind Montana State Billings (8-4, 2-0 GNAC) and Northwest Nazarene (5-4, 2-0 GNAC), but five other teams in the conference have at least eight wins already.
“In our league, there’s no easy games,” Dominguez added. You have to be mentally prepared for each night. You don’t have enough time to take it off.”
The Vikings will host Western Oregon (3-7, 0-2 GNAC) at 7 p.m. on Jan. 4 for their next contest.
