Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Jan. 9) -- Senior Sara Bergner (Bellingham) scored a career-high 25 points, leading five Central Washington University players in double figures, as the Wildcat women's basketball team defeated visiting Alaska, 82-72, on Saturday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats earned their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference win of the season (1-1) and improved to 4-8 overall. Alaska dropped its 12th straight contest to fall to 1-12 on the year and 0-2 in GNAC action.

Bergner and junior Colleen Betteridge (Seattle/Chief Sealth HS) both had career-best scoring nights for the Wildcats, who surpassed the 80-point plateau for the third time this season. Central scored just 80 or more points once during its entire 2008-09 season.

The Wildcats never trailed on Saturday night, racing out to an 18-4 lead in the first 7:20 of the contest. Their lead stayed in double figures the rest of the night, peaking at 20 points in the first half before Central took a 48-29 lead into halftime. The 48 first-half tallies, which included three double-figure scorers in the period, were the most in a half by the Wildcats this season.

Central's second-half lead hovered between 15 and 20 points until Alaska scored the game's final eight points -- all by Ronisha Edwards -- and made the final margin a 10-point differential.

CWU shot 46.2 percent for the game, marking its third-best percentage of the season. Bergner, whose 25 points were eight more than her previous career-best, was a key part of that offensive efficiency, as she converted on 8 of her first 12 attempts (8 of 14 overall). Senior center Shaina Afoa (Anchorage, Alaska/A.J. Dimond HS), who registered her eighth career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, made 4 of 6 from the floor.

Betteridge scored 11 of her career-best 15 points in the first half, capping the opening stanza with a three-pointer. She also matched her career-high with six rebounds and added five assists. Fellow starters Sophie Russell (Olympia/River Ridge HS) and Brooke Fernandez (Castle Rock) also scored in double figures with 15 and 10, respectively, with Fernandez matching Betteridge with a team-high five assists. Freshman Stacy Albrecht (Federal Way/Thomas Jefferson HS) was the only CWU reserve to score, finishing with six points and a game- and career-high 11 rebounds.

Alaska had three players score in double figures, led by a team-high double-double performance from Lakeshia Levi. Levi finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Edwards had 19 including 15 in the second half. Guard Caitlin Hamsley made four three-pointers and finished with 14 points in a losing effort for the Nanooks. Alexandra Melonson added nine points, nine rebounds, and a game-high six assists.

Central Washington will visit Northwest Nazarene next Thursday night (Jan. 14) before returning home for consecutive home games on Jan. 16 and Jan. 21 against Western Oregon and Western Washington, respectively. The Wildcats' next home game next Saturday will start at 5:15 p.m. as part of a women's-men's doubleheader at Nicholson Pavilion.