Center Britt Harris had game highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds, leading Western Washington University to a 71-51 victory over University of British Columbia in a women's basketball exhibition game Saturday, Oct. 27, at WWU.

Forward Sarah Hill came off the bench to score 11 points for the Vikings, who are ranked No. 12 in the Division II Bulletin Pre-season Top 25 Poll and the preseason pick to win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship. Last year, they finished 22-8 and reached the NCAA Division II West Regional semifinal.

UBC got 16 points and eight rebounds from center Leigh Stansfield, and guard Kris Young had 13 points.

WWU held the Thunderbirds to 33.3 percent field-goal shooting (17 of 51), including just 2-of-13 from 3-point range, and forced 19 turnovers.

The Vikings scored the first eight points and led 21-7 with 7:10 left in the first half before UBC rallied to get within six, 33-27, at halftime.

UBC trailed by just four, 37-33, with 15:38 remaining. The Vikings then scored 14 of the next 16 points over a span of 4:19 to lead 51-35 at 11:19. Harris, who scored 14 points in the second half, had six during that stretch.

The Thunderbirds never got closer than 15 after that and WWU's biggest lead was 24 points, 71-47, with 2:33 to play. WWU travels to NCAA Division I Seattle University for an

exhibition game at 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3.