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MONMOUTH, Ore. (Dec. 7) -- Sophomore JASMINE PARKER (Spokane/Mead HS) came off the bench to post a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds, and the Central Washington University women's basketball team overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to force overtime, but the Wildcats ultimately fell to host Western Oregon University, 71-63, on Saturday night.

CWU suffered its third straight loss, falling to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. WOU is also 3-4 overall, and is now 1-1 in conference games.

"We got off to a slow start, and it took all game to slowly climb back into it," CWU head coach Shawn Nelson said. "I'm very proud that we didn't quit tonight, but we didn't execute particularly well in our end-of-game situations that we emphasize (every week in practice)."

The Wildcats fell behind right out of the chute, allowing the Wolves to score the game's first nine points. WOU took its first double-digit lead at 16-4 with just over six minutes elapsed in the game, and the margin was 10 or more the entire rest of the first half, eventually reaching 15 at 30-15. CWU trailed 37-24 at halftime.

CWU clawed its way back into the game early in the second half, using a 16-4 scoring spurt of its own to make it a one-point game at the 11:18 mark. The Wildcats kept chipping away at the margin, finally seizing their first lead with 48 seconds left on a lay-up by senior JESSICA VANDYKE (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS), and a steal and score by Parker on the next possession made it a three-point game. However, Katie Goddard hit a game-tying three-pointer for WOU with 17 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

The Wildcats held Western Oregon to 19 points in the second half, containing the Wolves to 24.1 percent shooting in the period. However, that defensive proficiency did not carry over into the extra session, as WOU scored five straight points in the overtime and did not trail. The hosts finished with 15 points in the five-minute period, including eight by Dana Goularte.

Parker, whose 20 points were a career-high, had 12 in 15 first-half minutes and added eight more in the second half. Her appearance off the bench marked her first time as a reserve after 32 consecutive starts to begin her CWU career, and she eventually logged a career-high 38 minutes. The double-double was her fourth as a Wildcat.

VanDyke almost reached double-double status herself, finishing with 19 points and nine rebounds. She scored 13 of her points after halftime, including five of the Wildcats' seven tallies in overtime, as she made five of her final nine shots in the game. As a team, CWU shot just 33.3 percent and was just 5 of 26 (19.2 percent) from three-point range.

Junior COURTNEY JOHNSON (Kent/Kentwood HS) added 11 points for CWU, also in a reserve role as freshman CHANTEL HEATH (Davenport/Reardan HS) and juniors ANGELA WOODS (Seattle/Edmonds-Woodway HS) and ERIKA LOCKER (Ferndale) made their first career starts.

Goularte posted a solid all-around performance with 19 points and game-highs of 17 rebounds and six blocked shots for the Wolves. Chantel Divilbiss scored 14 with five assists, and Goddard totaled 10 points and six rebounds for WOU.

CWU will step away from GNAC play until early January, playing three non-conference home games in a four-day span starting next Saturday (Dec. 14) against The Evergreen State College. That game will begin a five-game home stand inside Nicholson Pavilion that runs through the first weekend of the new year.