Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Jan. 26) -- Junior Jessica VanDyke (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS) and freshman Jasmine Parker (Spokane/Mead HS) each posted double-doubles, but the Central Washington University women's basketball team was unable to overcome a low-scoring first half in its 66-58 loss to seventh-ranked Simon Fraser University on Saturday evening at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats fell to 8-9 overall and finished the first half of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with a 3-6 conference record. Simon Fraser improved to 14-3 overall and 7-2 in the conference with Saturday's win.

VanDyke finished with a team-high 20 points while adding a season-high 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season, while Parker had her third double-double of the campaign with 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Parker also blocked five shots.

CWU started the game strong, taking a four-point lead on Simon Fraser on two occasions within the first five minutes. However, after going in front 10-6, the Wildcats' offense ran into its longest drought of the season -- a span of 10 minutes, 6 seconds without a point -- as the visiting Clan went on a 21-0 run to take a commanding 17-point lead. CWU countered with six straight points but got no closer than an 11-point deficit before halftime.

The second half proved to be much better for the Wildcats in every aspect, especially shooting the basketball. After a first half in which it made just 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) and allowed SFU to connect on 12 of 26 shots (46.2 percent), CWU outshot the conference's most efficient shooting team over the final 20 minutes by better than five percent and outscored the Clan by a 39-35 margin. That shooting improvement was aided by a 7 for 11 performance from three-point range in the second half for the hosts, including VanDyke, who scored the Wildcats' first 10 points of the period and had 17 tallies in the second half. She and junior Daisy Burke (Spokane/Lewis and Clark HS) each made three three-pointers in the second half.

CWU chipped away at its deficit, nearly erasing a 14-point margin with a 15-4 run, but Simon Fraser then responded with a 13-4 spurt to put the game out of reach with five minutes remaining.

Thanks to the double-digit rebounding efforts of Parker and VanDyke, CWU edged Simon Fraser on the glass by a 38-37 count. Junior guard Leslie Stillar (Nine Mile Falls/Lakeside HS) added six rebounds, to go with seven points. Burke scored 12 points, while sophomore Courtney Johnson (Kent/Kentwood HS) finished with seven points and five rebounds.

Erin Chambers led Simon Fraser with 21 points, making 8 of 16 shots in the contest. Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, the top rebounder in the GNAC, finished with just seven rebounds while scoring 12 points for the Clan.

CWU will begin the second half of conference play next Saturday (Feb. 2), hosting Northwest Nazarene University in the final game of its three-game home stand.