Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Dec. 31) -- Junior guard Alex Dunn (West Valley City, Utah/Hunter HS) recorded just the second triple-double in school history with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading the Central Washington University women's basketball team to a convincing 97-74 win over visiting University of Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday afternoon at Nicholson Pavilion.

The win was the first of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season for the Wildcats, who improved to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in the GNAC by snapping a four-game losing streak. Alaska fell to 4-9 overall and remained the only winless team in the conference at 0-3.

Dunn, whose rebounding and assist totals were both game- and season-highs, finished off the triple-double with her 10th assist with 3:27 remaining on a 25-foot three-pointer by sophomore Jessica VanDyke (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS). Dunn had 10 of her rebounds and six of her assists in the first half, and became just the fourth player in the 11-year history of the GNAC to record a triple-double. The only previous triple-double in CWU women's basketball history was an 18-point, 14-rebound, 10-block outing by Molly Mickle on Dec. 2, 1994 against Eastern Oregon.

While Dunn's triple-double was the top story for the game, the key to the Wildcats' early success was the play of true freshman Melanie Valdez (Richland/Chiawana HS). Valdez, making her sixth consecutive start as Central's point guard after previously being penciled in to redshirt the 2011-12 season, scored 16 points in the first half. She made all eight of her free throw attempts and 3 of 4 shots from the floor prior to halftime as CWU built a 39-32 lead at the break.

"Melanie did a great job offensively to keep us in the game early," CWU head coach Shawn Nelson said, "since we were struggling with our shots in the first half."

In the second half, the Wildcats used a 17-0 run over a span of 2:45, exploiting the Nanooks for four turnovers while making six of seven shots during that span. After Alaska closed to within 15 on two occasions later in the half, the margin reached 21 at the 10:31 mark and remained in the twenties the rest of the way.

"Our offensive execution was much sharper, and everybody had success once we started running our offense at the tempo we wanted to run it," Nelson explained. "(The strong half) was sparked by Sophie Russell, and of course Alex (Dunn), who got everybody involved and rebounded extremely well from her guard position to set us up for some transition baskets."

Russell (Olympia/River Ridge HS) erupted for 19 second-half points, making 8 of 11 shots from the floor including 3 of 5 three-pointers after the break. VanDyke added 12 in the final stanza, while Dunn tallied 11 and four assists in the final 20 minutes. Russell finished the game with a career-high 23 points, while VanDyke added 18. With the addition of point totals by Valdez (16), Dunn (13), and freshman Courtney Johnson (Kent/Kentwood HS) with 11, all five CWU starters scored in double figures as the Wildcats posted their highest single-game point total since an 109-point outburst against Cascade College on Nov. 25, 2007.

The Wildcats shot 53.7 percent in the second half and finished the game with their second-best single-game effort of the season at 43.4 percent. CWU also had a commanding 51-39 edge in rebounding, posting their highest rebound total of the season.

Alaska had four players score in double digits, led by 19 points from Autumn Greene and 18 from Jacqueline Lovato. Greene and Nicole Bozek (15 points) tied for team-high honors in rebounding with seven boards.

Central Washington returns to the road for three straight contests, beginning next Saturday (Jan. 7) at Northwest Nazarene University. The Wildcats' next home game is Jan. 19 versus Western Washington.