Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Jan. 2) -- Central Washington built a 19-point halftime lead, and four players scored in double figures as the Wildcats wrapped up the non-conference portion of their women's basketball schedule with an 86-69 win over Dominican University of California on Saturday afternoon at Nicholson Pavilion.

With the win, Central will enter Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with a 3-7 overall record. The Wildcats also improved to 3-1 at home on the season. Dominican, a first-year NCAA Division II member that competes in the Pacific West Conference, fell to 3-8.

The Wildcats led for nearly the entire game on Saturday, taking their first lead with 18:03 to go in the first half and never trailing again. A 9-0 run midway through the opening period gave Central its first double-digit lead of the contest at 23-13 with 11:47 remaining, and the margin hit 20 in the closing seconds before halftime, at which time the hosts had a 19-point advantage. A high-scoring first half for the Wildcats, whose 47 points were the most in an opening half in nearly two years, Central made 20 of 36 field goals before the intermission.

CWU scored the first four points of the second half to take the first of two 23-point leads in the game, but Dominican stormed back later in the half. The Penguins converted on three three-pointers over a two-minute span to cut the Wildcat lead to six at 66-60, but eight straight Central points and a drought of more than 3 1/2 minutes by the visitors pushed the margin back to 14 points. The Wildcats finished the game on a 10-4 run over the final 3:21 and held the Penguins to just nine points over the final nine minutes to preserve the victory.

Central Washington had a strong all-around day offensively, shooting a season-high 50 percent from the field (37 of 74) and outrebounding Dominican by a 46-38 count. Four Wildcats scored in double figures, including 19 points from sophomore Sophie Russell (Olympia/River Ridge HS). Russell also had four rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Senior Sara Bergner (Bellingham) finished with a career-high 17 points while adding eight rebounds and three steals, and junior Brittany Duerr (Bellevue/Newport HS) came off the bench to score 16. Senior Shaina Afoa (Anchorage, Alaska/A.J. Dimond HS) also posted her seventh career double-double -- and the first of her final collegiate campaign -- with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Dominican had just one player score in double figures, as Alisha Flaaten had a game-high 24 points. Tammy Brawner and Kimi Nakamura added nine points apiece in a losing effort for the Penguins.

Central will begin conference play next Thursday (Jan. 7) at 5:15 p.m. versus nationally-ranked Alaska Anchorage at Nicholson Pavilion. The Wildcats will also play Alaska next Saturday (Jan. 9) as part of their three-game home stand.