Box Score: Northwest Nazarene 78, Dominican (CA) 54
Box Score: CWU 76, Chaminade 44

ELLENSBURG (Nov. 19) -- Sophomore Stacy Albrecht (Federal Way/Thomas Jefferson HS) had career-highs of 17 points, five blocked shots, four steals, and three assists, in leading Central Washington University to a convincing 76-44 women's basketball win over Chaminade University of Honolulu at the Wildcat Classic opener on Friday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

Northwest Nazarene University defeated Dominican University of California, 78-54, in the tournament's opening game earlier on Friday night.

In the Wildcats' 32-point win over Chaminade -- the team's largest margin of victory since an 87-55 decision over Academy of Art last December -- Central stormed out to a 14-0 lead and eventually led 44-14 at halftime en route to the blowout victory.

Albrecht had the best all-around performance of her young career by making 8 of 12 field-goal attempts to accumulate her 17 points. She had nine of her counters and eight of her nine rebounds in the first half of play, also coming away with four steals in the opening 20 minutes as the Wildcats forced the Silverswords into 19 first-half turnovers. Chaminade finished the game with 31 miscues.

"Stacy was all over the floor tonight," CWU head coach Jeff Whitney said of his sophomore post. "She was getting deflections, rebounds, put-back opportunities, and did a great job in the middle, stopping anything that went toward the rim."

Albrecht was the centerpiece of a defensive presence that held the Silverswords to 25.5 percent shooting, including an ice-cold 19.4 percent (6 of 31) in the first half. She was credited with five of the Wildcats' 11 blocked shots in the game -- the team's highest single-game rejection total since an 11-block performance against Eastern Oregon on Dec. 2, 1994

"Our defensive ball pressure is developing into production for this team," Whitney added, "and the players are buying into the defensive philosophy we are trying to emphasize."

Central dominated the statistical columns on Friday, dishing out 20 assists while committing just 15 turnovers. The only major category in which the Wildcats did not have an advantage was on the glass, where they were outrebounded (48-39) for the second time in as many starts this season.

With large leads throughout, Whitney and the Wildcats had the opportunity to give significant minutes to all 12 players in uniform. Each player scored at least one point and played anywhere from six to 27 minutes against the Silverswords.

"It was great to be able to give everybody a chance to play, and to have them come in and contribute," Whitney concluded.

Only one other Wildcat scored in double figures on a balanced offensive night. Senior Luv Rattler (Riverside, Calif./Kentlake HS) finished with 11 points and four assists in 20 minutes of action.

Chaminade was led by the game-high 20 points of guard Jamie Higa, who made 7 of 11 shots including 4 of 5 from three-point range. The Silverswords' next highest scorers -- Markeshia Manning and Kayci Will -- had six points apiece.

The two-day tournament concludes on Saturday with two more games. Northwest Nazarene (1-0) faces Chaminade (0-3) at 2 p.m., while Dominican (0-3) takes on CWU (2-0) at 4 p.m.