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ELLENSBURG (Dec. 16) -- Sophomore JASMINE PARKER (Spokane/Mead HS) scored the go-ahead basket on a putback with 11 seconds left, and then sealed the victory with a last-second bucket as the Central Washington University women's basketball team held off visiting Hawai'i Pacific University, 72-68, on Monday evening at Nicholson Pavilion.

The win was the second straight for CWU, which improved to 5-4 overall. Hawai'i Pacific fell to 4-2 in its first game away from the Islands this year.

Parker, who finished with her second double-double in the last three games with 18 points and 12 rebounds on Monday, rebounded a missed free throw by senior ALLY SCHMITT (Snohomish) to give the Wildcats a 70-68 lead. Then, after two missed free throws by HPU on the other end, she corralled the second miss and was fouled. Despite missing back-to-back free throws with 2.3 seconds left, the sophomore got her own rebound amidst four Sea Warrior players and scored another putback basket with 0.8 seconds left for the game's final four-point margin -- matching the largest lead for CWU in the contest.

"These are the games that we haven't been able to win over the past two years (since my arrival)," third-year CWU head coach Shawn Nelson said. "We didn't play particularly well -- specifically on offense or at the free throw line -- but we made plays at key times and gave us a chance to win."

The Wildcats responded after a rough-shooting first half in which they made just 7 of 30 (23.3 percent) from the floor but held a two-point halftime lead after making 12 of 15 free throws in the opening 20 minutes. A three-pointer by senior JESSICA VANDYKE (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS) in the closing seconds of the period gave CWU just its third lead of the evening.

The game see-sawed back and forth in the second half, with neither team leading by more than four at any one point. Hawai'i Pacific held a four-point edge with 5:12 remaining, but CWU tied the score with consecutive baskets and there were three ties over the final three minutes before the Wildcats got the winning points down the stretch.

All told, the back and forth affair saw a total of 11 ties and 16 lead changes on the night. The teams were dead even in rebounding, with 41 apiece, although 14 of the Wildcats' boards were on the offensive glass led by Parker's six.

CWU won the turnover battle by committing just 11 -- its lowest total in nearly three weeks -- and forcing HPU into 16 miscues. Those factors helped the Wildcats overcome a 34.9 percent shooting night overall, including 25.8 percent (8 of 31) from three-point range.

VanDyke finished as the Wildcats' top scorer with 19 points and six rebounds, making four three-pointers. Parker's 18-point outing included 6 of 11 shooting, while junior ERIKA LOCKER (Ferndale) came off the bench to score 10. Schmitt had seven points, five rebounds, and a season-high 11 assists.

Hawai'i Pacificsaw three of its players score 15 or more, including a monster 20-point, 17-rebound performance by Seattle native Morganne Comstock. Skye Savini added 16 points and five assists for the Sea Warriors, while Laken McClelland tallied 15 points off the bench.

The two teams will wrap up their two-game series on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Nicholson Pavilion. CWU will then break for the holidays, next returning to action on Jan. 2, 2014 against the Alaska Nanooks in Nicholson Pavilion.