Walling leads Western Washington basketball to national title game

Prairie High School graduate Brooke Walling scored 19 points to lead Western Washington to a 74-68 win over North Georgia on Wednesday to reach the NCAA Division-II national championship game for the first time.

The Vikings (25-5) will face Glenville State of West Virginia for the title at 5 p.m. Friday in Birmingham, Ala.

Limited by early foul trouble, Walling came alive to score 14 points in the second half.

The Vikings (25-5) used a 9-0 run to build a 50-43 lead with 6:57 left in the third quarter.

Top-seeded North Georgia clawed within 54-51 late in the third. But back-to back layups by Walling put the No. 5-seed Vikings back in control.

North Georgia would not get closer than six points the rest of the game.

Walling, a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward who started her college career at Fresno State, has averaged 16.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in the postseason. She was the West Regional MVP, averaging 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds.