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ELLENSBURG (Dec. 14) -- Junior Courtney Johnson (Kent/Kentwood HS) led a balanced scoring effort with 15 points, including 13 in the second half, as the Central Washington University women's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 67-47 victory over visiting Evergreen State College on Saturday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats evened their record at 4-4 on the season, improving to 2-0 at home. Evergreen, which competes as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, counted the game as an exhibition.

"We got off to a good start and were really balanced offensively," CWU head coach Shawn Nelson said. "We shot at a high percentage. Our game plan -- after watching ourselves the past two weekends -- has been to go inside and have more of an inside presence. Our post players shoot at a high percentage inside, so we need to take advantage of that and we did so tonight."

CWU used a 15-1 scoring run over the final 7:26 of the first half to turn a close contest into a sizable margin. With just a two-point differential at that juncture, the Wildcats started distancing themselves from the Geoducks as they held Evergreen without a field goal for the remainder of the first half while converting opportunities on the offensive end of the floor. Ten of the Wildcats' points during that span came inside the paint, where they set the tone offensively with 38 total points on the evening.

Johnson made 5 of 8 shots in the second half -- and 5 of 10 overall -- including 3 of 7 from three-point range for the game. She and senior Jessica VanDyke (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS) were the only two players in double figures, as VanDyke totaled 11 and seven rebounds.

Inside the paint, sophomore Jasmine Parker (Spokane/Mead HS) was a force on both offense and defense. She scored eight points -- all in the first half -- while adding seven rebounds and five blocked shots as the Wildcats finished with eight total blocks in the game. CWU was particularly efficient shooting the basketball -- shooting better than 50 percent (50.9 percent) for the first time since Feb. 12, 2012 -- but the Wildcats were outrebounded by a 44-37 count including 23 offensive rebounds by the Geoducks. Inside three-point range, the hosts were 20 of 32 from the floor (62.5 percent).

All 14 CWU players in uniform appeared in the contest, and nine of them scored. Senior starters Ally Schmitt (Snohomish) and Amber Moser (Willamina, Ore./Sheridan HS) scored six and four points, respectively, with Schmitt handing out five assists in her return to the lineup after a two-game absence. Junior reserves Mollie Kramer (Colton) and Erika Locker (Ferndale) scored seven points apiece, while sophomore India Matheson (Lake Forest Park/Shorecrest HS) added five and Hannah Shine (Lynden) finished with four.

"We got the opportunity to play a lot of people tonight, and it was a solid overall win for us," Nelson continued. "One of our goals this year is to defend our home court, and we're 2-0 at home so far."

Evergreen was led in scoring by Sammi Clark, who totaled 11 points but was just 2 of 17 from the floor as the visitors shot just 25.4 percent (16 of 63) for the game. The Geoducks failed to make a three-pointer, missing on all six long-range attempts.

CWU will look to continue its home court fortunes with the next game of a season-long five-game home stand on Monday (Dec. 16), playing the first of back-to-back games against Hawai'i Pacific University at 5 p.m. The two-game series between the Wildcats and Sea Warriors will wrap up with a Tuesday night game at 7 p.m.