NAMPA, Idaho (Nov. 15) – The Central Washington University women's basketball team earned its first victory of the season 68-63 over Hawaii Pacific at the Northwest Nazarene Tip-Off Classic in Nampa, Idaho.
 
The Wildcats even its record to 1-1 on the season and the Sharks now sit with the same record.
 
"I thought we came and competed and we wanted to win the game," CWU head coach Jeff Harada said. "It was a team effort, a tremendous team effort. Everyone who played contributed and that was the message before the game."
 
The Wildcats were led by Courtney Johnson and Hannah Shine who combined for 36 of the team's 68 points in the contest. Johnson scored 19 points on 6 of 11 shooting including 2 of 5 from three point territory.  Shine, who was a perfect 3-for-3 in the first half finished with 17 points making four of her seven shot attempts on the day, all from behind the arc.
 
In a back and forth first-half the Wildcats walked into intermission on a high note as Shine hit one of her three first-half treys to beat the buzzer giving CWU a 35-32 edge.
 
"When we execute our offense we can get good shots and in the last couple game we didn't make them, but today we did," Harada said of his offense. "Courtney shot well yesterday and again today, and Hannah got hot, which was crucial."
 
The Sharks scored the first five points of the second half to quickly take a lead at 37-35 with 17:35 left in the contest. The Wildcats responded with a 6-0 run thanks to three straight baskets by Jasmine Parker who scored seven of her nine points in the second frame.
 
Central Washington led by as many as eight points in the second half but HPU came back and regained the lead at 59-58 with just over five minutes left in the game.  Hawaii Pacific led 63-60 with 2:35 left, and the Wildcats ended the game on an 8-0 run to win the contest 68-63.
 
"We felt like there was a mismatch we could exploit and we took advantage of that," Harada said about his strategy at the end of the game.  "We were able to get to the line and anytime you can do that late in a contest you have a chance to win close games."
 
Up next the Wildcats come home to take on Evergreen State College on Nov. 22 at 7:00 p.m.