Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Feb. 14) -- Freshman Jasmine Parker (Spokane/Mead HS) scored a team-high 18 points and was 7 of 12 from the field, but the Central Washington University women's basketball team shot just 33.9 percent and committed 21 turnovers in its 68-55 home loss to the University of Alaska Anchorage on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats suffered their fourth consecutive home loss, falling to 9-12 overall and 4-9 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. They also fell 2 1/2 games behind sixth place UAA (13-9, 7-7 GNAC) in a bid for sixth place in the conference standings. The top six teams in the final standings will qualify for the conference tournament in March.

Parker was one of four CWU players to score in double figures, as reserves Courtney Johnson (So., Kent/Kentwood HS) and Daisy Burke (Jr., Spokane/Lewis and Clark HS) scored 11 each and junior starter Jessica VanDyke (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS) finished with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The game see-sawed back and forth in the first half, with Alaska Anchorage breaking the game's sixth (and final) tie on a layup by Alysa Horn with 22 seconds to go before halftime. The Seawolves took a 28-26 lead into the break and did not trail the rest of the way.

CWU closed to within one point at the 9:06 mark to go in the second half, but Alaska Anchorage then scored ten consecutive points for its first double-digit lead. CWU made it a five-point game with 3:39 remaining, but UAA finished the game on a 6-0 run -- aided by six free throws in the final 34.7 seconds from senior Sasha King.

While they struggled offensively, with a 5 for 28 night from three-point range (17.9 percent) as part of their 21 for 62 overall shooting, the Wildcats handily outrebounded the Seawolves by a 38-26 count. Sixteen of the boards came on the offensive end, including five from VanDyke, but UAA outscored CWU by a 22-11 count off turnovers.

Alaska Anchorage, which used just seven players in Thursday's contest, saw four of those reach double figures. Horn led all players with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Kylie Burns scored 16 and Jessica Madison added 15. King finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 assists. The Seawolves finished the game shooting 50.9 percent (28 of 55), including 62.5 percent (25 of 40) from inside the three-point arc.

CWU will host the Alaska Nanooks on Saturday night (Feb. 16) at Nicholson Pavilion.