ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team overcame a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter and were only down one point with 11 seconds remaining in the game, but the Central Washington Wildcats converted on a good layup to defeat the Nooks 69-66 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest at the Nicholson Pavilion on Thursday night.

Senior forward Kaillee Skjold posted a career personal-best 30 points against the Wildcats, shooting 11-of-21 from the floor and draining 8-of-9 free throws. Skjold's 30-point night wasn't the only highlight, as the Kasilof, Alaska native also pulled down 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season, the most of any player within the conference. Skjold also posted five assists and three steals in 34 minutes on the court.

Fellow senior forward Jordan Wilson was only three points away from her fifth 30-point game of the season, shooting 12-of-21 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free throw line to total 27 points against the Wilcats. Wilson also chipped in three rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Senior guard Victoria Milton collected a team-high six assists, while senior guard Autumn Childers tied Skjold for a game-high three steals.  

Alaska was outscored by their opponent 10-16 in the first quarter and 9-18 in the second quarter, shooting only 30.77 percent (8-of-26) from the field. The Nooks came back from intermission and quickly changed things around, outscoring their opponent 23-13 in the third and 24-22 in the fourth to shoot 56.67 percent from the floor (17-of-30) and 81.25 percent from the free throw line (13-of-16) in the second half.

Central Washington was led by Taylor Baird, who shot 7-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-8 from the free throw line to tally a team-high 17 points against the Nanooks. Baird was the only other player in Thursday's game to record a double-double, adding a game-high 12 rebounds to her 17-point night.

CWU's Sadie Mensing followed up Baird's night with 14 points of her own, followed by Rachel Lorentson who combined for 12.

The Wildcats shot 52.8 percent from the floor (28-of-53), 62.5 percent from three-point range (5-of-8) and 57.1 percent from the free throw line (8-of-14).

The Wildcats out-rebounded Alaska 33-28 and posted 22 assists to the Nooks' 20, but Alaska capitalized on Central Washington's 18 turnovers for 10 steals on the night.

The Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team will travel to Nampa, Idaho to take on the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders on Saturday, Feb. 10 for a 1pm AKST tip-off.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks women's basketball team, follow @NanooksWBB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Women's Basketball team page on Facebook.