Box Score
ELLENSBURG (Dec. 29) -- The Central Washington University women's basketball team hung with 10th-ranked Alaska Anchorage in the first half, but an extensive run early in the second half resulted in a 78-60 Wildcat loss to the Seawolves on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion.
The loss was the fourth straight for CWU, which fell to 3-7 overall and 0-3 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Alaska Anchorage won its seventh straight overall to improve to 11-2 on the season and 2-0 in GNAC play.
The Wildcats, playing the final game of a three-game stretch against opponents ranked among the top 30 in the NCAA Division II polls, took the early lead over the Seawolves in the first half and experienced six first-half ties and five lead changes. In fact, CWU led by six (10-4) at the 16:07 mark before being outscored 12-2 over the next 5 1/2 minutes. The lead then see-sawed back and forth, with the Wildcats going ahead 32-31 on a layup by junior
STACY ALBRECHT (Federal Way/Thomas Jefferson HS). After the lead reached three in Central's favor, Alaska Anchorage scored a pair of layups over the final 1:28 to take a 35-34 lead at halftime.
UAA extended its run to a 19-3 spurt over the first 4:12 of the second half, going ahead 50-37 at the 15:48 mark and keeping a double-digit lead the rest of the way. The margin reached 20 points with 10:13 left and was as great as 21 before the final 18-point differential.
"We got off to a great start defensively with our ball pressure," CWU head coach Shawn Nelson said, "and that's what we wanted to do coming into the game. (Our pressure) led to some easy scoring opportunities early, and we were able to maintain that intensity for the first 20 minutes.
"In the second half, we came out and we didn't apply the same type of pressure, and they got to the basket with relative ease as a result. We still took more shots than they did, and we just had a hard time hitting shots and they pulled away in the first five minutes of the second half."
Central Washington played relatively even with Alaska Anchorage in many statistical categories, including turnovers and rebounding. The Wildcats had 18 turnovers to the Seawolves' 16, but more importantly, CWU held a 37-34 edge in rebounding against a team that entered the game leading the NCAA Division II in rebounding margin. Sixteen of Central's boards came on the offensive end, where they doubled up UAA 16-8.
In the shooting department, however, Alaska Anchorage finished the game at 54.2 percent including 60.7 percent in the second half. Central Washington, which shot 42.9 percent in the first half, finished at 36.5 percent -- slightly above its season shooting average and nearly seven percent higher than UAA's nation-leading field-goal percentage defense.
From three-point range, where Central Washington came into the contest averaging more than eight made treys per game, the Wildcats were just 5 of 21, matching a season-low for three-pointers. Alaska Anchorage connected on 7 of 15 from behind the arc, including 5 of 9 in the second half.
Individually, sophomore
JESSICA VANDYKE (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS) scored 17 to lead the Wildcats. Freshman
COURTNEY JOHNSON (Kent/Kentwood HS) added 12 and four offensive rebounds, while junior
ALEX DUNN (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS) had eight points, a team-high eight rebounds, and six assists.
Alaska Anchorage, which finished with a 44-30 edge in points in the paint, was led by the 23-point, 11-rebound double-double of senior Hanna Johansson. Three other Seawolvves -- Haley Holmstead, Kaylie Robison, and Alysa Horn -- added 11 points apiece.
Central Washington will look to cap off the 2011 calendar year with a victory on Saturday afternoon, as the Wildcats host Alaska Fairbanks (4-8, 0-2 GNAC) at 1 p.m. inside Nicholson Pavilion.
