Box Score ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Five players scored in double figures and Central Washington used an early second half run to pull away for a 97-74 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Alaska Saturday afternoon at Nicholson Pavilion.
"Central shot the ball really well," head coach
Cody Burgess said. "They were able to shift their shots and cause turnovers here and there. They hit a lot of outside shots and made their free throws, so they did well on that end."
Sophie Russell scored a game-high 23 points, while Jessica VanDyke contributed 18 points. Alex Dunn posted a triple-double with 13 points and game highs of 12 rebounds and 10 assists and Melanie Valdez and Courtney Johnson also tallied double-figure scoring with 16 and 11 points.
The Wildcats (4-7, 1-3 GNAC) shot better than 43-percent (33-76) from the floor and drained 12 three-pointers, while controlling the boards 51-39, including 20-12 on the offensive glass.
The Nanooks (4-9, 0-3 GNAC) were led by senior forward
Autumn Greene (Lewiston, Idaho/Centralia CC) and junior forward
Jacqueline Lovato (Gunnison, Colo./McCook CC). Greene tallied a team-high 19 points, while Lovato came off the bench for a season-high 18 points.
"They played with a lot of intensity and really tried to stick to the gameplan," Burgess said. "They were able to get the shots they needed and Central didn't give us much very easily. They stayed aggressive in order to get points."
Senior center
Nicole Bozek (Mukilteo, Wash./Kamiak) added 15 points, while freshman guard
Nicole Hartzog (Beaverton, Ore./Beaverton) also had double figures with 10 points, respectively.
Alaska shot 35-percent (21-60) for the game and hit seven three's (7-17, 41.2%) while also getting to the free throw line 32 times and converting on 25 of them (78.1%).
"We need to be able to shoot better and I think we did that these last two games, especially from the three-point line which helped," Burgess said. "We need to be consistent and get everybody involved in order to win the game."
The game went back and forth early on, but with the 'Nooks leading 15-14 with 9:31 to go, the Wildcats seized control with a 9-0 surge to grab a 23-15 advantage with just under six remaining in the first. Alaska cut it back to five at 25-20, but Central kept applying the pressure, leading by as many as 12. Alaska closed the frame on a 7-2 run to trail 39-32 at the break.
With CWU leading 46-38 with 18:15 left in the second, the home team opened up the contest with 17 straight points in a span of 2:28 to take a 63-38 lead with 15:30 to go. Alaska kept fighting, however, using a 12-2 run of its own to trim the deficit to 65-50 with 12:23 left in regulation. That would be as close as the Nanooks would get as the Wildcats led by as many as 29 on two separate occasions late in the ballgame.
Alaska returns home next week for a pair of home GNAC games as it hosts Seattle Pacific Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by a 3 p.m., meeting Saturday against Montana State-Billings.
"We need to focus on defense, work on taking teams out of their comfort zones and we've not done a good job of that," Burgess said. "Hopefully we come back mentally focused and recognizing the games go by quickly and each game you have to come ready to play in this conference."
