Box Score
NAMPA, Idaho (Jan. 14) -- Top scorers
Sophie Russell (Olympia/River Ridge HS) and
Sara Bergner (Bellingham) combined for 34 of Central Washington's 53 points, but the Wildcats suffered a 76-53 women's basketball loss to host Northwest Nazarene on Thursday night at the Johnson Sports Center.
The loss drops CWU to 4-9 overall and 1-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while Northwest Nazarene improves to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in the GNAC.
Russell accounted for more than half of Central's 26 second-half points, leading all players with 14 points after halftime. She was 6 of 10 from the floor in the second period and finished as the game's leading scorer with 20 points.
Bergner, who finished with 14 counters, helped Central force six first-half ties by scoring 11 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Wildcats held a pair of leads in the contest, including an early 11-5 advantage, but were held scoreless in the final 3:50 of the first half as the host Crusaders scored the final 12 points of the period to take a 39-27 lead at the intermission.
Senior
Brooke Fernandez (Castle Rock) opened the second half scoring with a three-pointer to cut Central's deficit to nine, and the Wildcats were eventually as close as an eight-point margin with 12 minutes left, but a 24-7 NNU run over the next eight minutes put the game out of reach.
Central kept statistically close with the more experienced Northwest Nazarene squad, only being outrebounded by a 41-36 count thanks to a game-high 11 rebounds from senior
Shaina Afoa (Anchorage, Alaska/A.J. Dimond HS). However, a season-high 29 turnovers translated into 30 Crusader points, which proved to be a major difference in the game as CWU scored just 14 off 17 NNU miscues.
Lindsay Brady led Northwest Nazarene with 15 points in reserve action, while starter Jennifer Williams had 14 points and seven rebounds.
Central Washington will return home to Nicholson Pavilion for the first of back-to-back home games. The Wildcats will host Western Oregon on Saturday night (Jan. 16) at 5:15 p.m. in the opening game of a women's-men's doubleheader. Central will then face rival Western Washington next Thursday (Jan. 21) to conclude the brief home stand.
