Box Score
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (Jan. 17) -- Junior
Jessica VanDyke (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS) led four Central Washington University women's basketball players in double figures, helping lead the Wildcats to a 69-49 victory over the University of Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday night at the Patty Center.
The victory evened the Wildcats' overall record at 7-7 and was the team's second straight as they improved to 2-4 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The Nanooks fell to 2-12 overall and 0-6 in the GNAC.
VanDyke's game-high 21 points included four three-pointers, and she scored 14 of her tallies in the second half as CWU outscored Alaska, 42-23, in the final period. The Wildcats led by just one -- 27-26 -- at halftime after overcoming an early 10-point deficit.
CWU fell behind 15-5 in the first eight minutes of the contest but went on a 16-6 run over the next 7 1/2 minutes to force the game's second tie. After the two squads traded baskets over the next three minutes, a VanDyke layup just inside the final minute gave the Wildcats the halftime lead.
Alaska regained the lead early in the second half, and the two teams traded leads and tie scores over the first 10 minutes of the half. CWU then held the Nanooks to just five points over the final 10:18 while countering with 25 tallies of its own, as the Wildcats took the lead for good on a free throw by sophomore
Courtney Johnson (Kent/Kentwood HS). A three-pointer by junior
Daisy Burke (Spokane/Lewis and Clark HS) and a basket by Johnson pushed the lead to six, and Alaska got no closer than a four-point deficit the rest of the way. CWU outscored the Nanooks 16-1 over the final 4:58.
While VanDyke finished as the game's top scorer, the Wildcats' top performer in the game may have been freshman
Jasmine Parker (Spokane/Mead HS), who totaled 11 points, 17 rebounds, and five steals in 30 minutes of action. The rebounding total was the highest by a CWU player since a 17-rebound effort by Shaina Afoa at Western Oregon in February 2008. The Wildcats finished with a commanding 49-36 edge on the glass, as four others joined Parker with five or more boards.
Burke and Johnson came off the bench to score 12 points apiece for CWU, as the duo also combined for six assists with just one turnover. Sophomore
Tayler Fettig (Olympia) added six points in 18 minutes of reserve action, while junior
Leslie Stillar (Nine Mile Falls/Lakeside HS), who made her first start of the season, finished with five points, five rebounds, and five assists.
Alaska was led by the 11 points each from Benissa Bulaya and Taylor Altenburg.
CWU remains in the Frontier State to take on the University of Alaska Anchorage on Saturday (Jan. 19). The Wildcats will then open up a three-game home stand at Nicholson Pavilion next Thursday (Jan. 24) against archrival Western Washington University.
