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LACEY (Dec. 5) -- Senior guard JESSICA VANDYKE (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS) finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, but the Central Washington University women's basketball team committed 18 first-half turnovers in a 64-49 loss to host Saint Martin's University on Thursday night at Marcus Pavilion.

The Wildcats fell to 3-3 on the season and 0-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Saint Martin's improved to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the GNAC.

CWU was never able to find an offensive rhythm, and the Wildcats were trailing from nearly start-to-finish. They led just once -- at 3-2 with 18:24 remaining in the first half -- and trailed 26-19 at halftime after committing 18 turnovers in the period.

Neither team put up spectacular offensive numbers before halftime -- CWU was at 30 percent and SMU at 25.8 percent in the first half -- but the host Saints improved upon those numbers significantly after the break. They shot 52 percent over the final 20 minutes and made 11 of 14 free throws in the second half, while the Wildcats remained steady at 30.3 percent but were just 6 of 13 at the foul line.

CWU kept the margin at single digits for only the first 70 seconds of the final period, as Saint Martin's scored on three straight possessions to push the lead to 14. It was part of a 13-2 scoring run over the first 3:07 of the half, and the margin stayed around 20 points for the duration. The Wildcats put together a late push that saw them make it a 12-point differential with 1:12 remaining, but that is as close as they would get.

VanDyke was the only double-digit scorer for CWU, accounting for nearly one-third of the Wildcats' point total. She also finished as the team's leading rebounder with eight, including five offensive. Junior COURTNEY JOHNSON (Kent/Kentwood HS) had seven points and four rebounds, making 2 of 6 from three-point range. CWU reserves accounted for nearly half (24) of the Wildcats' 49 points. They finished the game with a 40-38 edge in rebounding, but accumulated 25 turnovers in the contest.

Saint Martin's was led by the 21-point, 10-rebound double-double of Chelsea Haskey. Angela Gelhar added 12 points, including the Saints' lone three-pointer of the game.

CWU will remain on the road this Saturday (Dec. 7), visiting Western Oregon University in another GNAC contest.