Box Score

LACEY (Dec. 2) -- Sophomore Stacy Albrecht (Federal Way/Thomas Jefferson HS) had her second career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, but the Central Washington University women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2010-11 season, 53-50, to host Saint Martin's University on Thursday evening at Marcus Pavilion.

The Wildcats are now 3-1 overall and 0-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Saint Martin's improved to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

"Stacy was an animal tonight," CWU head coach Jeff Whitney said. "She played nearly 40 minutes and could have kept on playing at an exceptional level. She is really coming on and doing some things for us."

Central led the low-scoring affair, 24-20, at halftime after taking a 15-14 lead at the 10:04 mark of the first half. The Wildcats held Saint Martin's to just six points over the remainder of the half, and led by as many as seven with 1:15 to go before halftime.

Saint Martin's scored the first eight points of the second half, only to see CWU respond with an 8-0 run of its own to regain a four-point lead. Neither team would be in front by more than two again until SMU went in front 44-40 with 3:48 remaining, and the Saints remained in the lead the rest of the way. They were ahead by as many as five points on two occasions, but the Wildcats did close the gap in the final minute. Consecutive baskets by Albrecht in the final 44 seconds trimmed a five-point Central deficit to one with nine seconds left, and the Wildcats had the opportunity to tie or take the lead with six ticks remaining, but two missed free throws by junior Sophie Russell (Olympia/River Ridge HS) kept the score at 51-50 and Saint Martin's made two foul shots with one second left to preserve the victory.

Central, playing its first game in 12 days, was without the services of its second-leading scorer, senior Luv Rattler (Riverside, Calif./Kentlake HS), who suffered an injury earlier this week. Freshmen Daisy Burke (Spokane/Lewis and Clark HS) and Amber Moser (Willamina, Ore./Sheridan HS) both started their first collegiate games on Thursday, with Burke scoring seven points in 21 minutes and Moser finishing with two points and six rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

In addition to her scoring and rebounding prowess, both of which were team-leading efforts, Albrecht had four blocked shots and played 39 minutes. Redshirt freshman Kelsi Jacobson (Spokane/University HS) was the only other CWU player to score in double figures, finishing with 11 off the bench. Russell and fellow junior Nneka Payne (Auburn), who both came into the game averaging better than nine points per game to rank fourth and third on the team, respectively, were held to a combined eight points and Central shot a season-low 31.7 percent from the floor.

The Wildcat defense held Saint Martin's to 27.4 percent shooting and forced 21 Saints turnovers, but the double-figure scoring of Roni Jo Mielke (19 points) and Dara Zack (14) helped SMU prevail. Zack also corralled a game-high 20 rebounds, including a GNAC-record 12 on the offensive glass.

"Our defensive effort was outstanding," Whitney added, "but the game came down to rebounding and free throw shooting. You have to shoot better than 55 percent at the free throw line to expect to win."

Neither team shot particularly well at the free throw line, where Central was just 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) and Saint Martin's was 16 of 25 (64.0 percent). From three-point range, the two teams combined to make just five of 29 attempts, including just 2 of 15 (13.3 percent) by the Wildcats.

Central Washington will travel to Western Oregon for a Saturday afternoon game with the Wolves in Monmouth, Ore.