Box Score
SEATTLE (Feb. 27) -- The Central Washington University women's basketball team stayed close to nationally-ranked Seattle Pacific University for most of the first 31 minutes before eventually falling to the 19th-ranked Falcons, 74-48, on Saturday night at Brougham Pavilion.
The Wildcats lost their eighth straight contest to fall to 6-18 on the season and 3-11 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Seattle Pacific improved to 22-3 overall and 13-1 in the GNAC.
After neither team scored in the opening two minutes, Central led for the next 4:55. Seattle Pacific gained the lead with just over 13 minutes left in the first half but the Wildcats kept the lead relatively close for the rest of the first half. Although SPU pushed the margin to 14 points, Central closed the half on a 9-3 run over the final 3:09 and trailed by just eight -- 32-24 -- at halftime.
Seattle Pacific quickly pushed the lead back to double digits out of the gate in the second half, but after facing an 18-point deficit, Central went on a 13-3 rally and trailed just 49-41 with 11:24 left in the game. After their final eight-point deficit with 10 minutes remaining, the Wildcats managed just five points the rest of the way and did not score over the final 3:54.
Central Washington had another challenging night shooting the basketball, making just 29.8 percent from the floor. Sophomore
Sophie Russell (Olympia/River Ridge HS) and senior
Brooke Fernandez (Castle Rock) were the only Wildcats to reach double figures in the scoring column with 16 and 10, respectively, with Fernandez making 4 of 7 field goals in 17 minutes of action. Russell and senior
Shaina Afoa (Anchorage, Alaska/A.J. Dimond HS) were Central's top rebounders with seven boards apiece
Seattle Pacific had four double-figure scorers including a game-high 30 points from Daesha Henderson. Two Falcons -- Megan Hoisington (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Melissa Reich (12 points, 12 rebounds) -- had double-doubles, helping SPU to a 53-37 rebounding edge.
The Wildcats finished the away portion of their schedule with a 2-12 record away from Nicholson Pavilion. Central will play its final two games of the 2009-10 season at home next Thursday (Mar. 4) and Saturday (Mar. 6), with 5:15 p.m. starts for both contests.
