ELLENSBURG, Wash (Dec. 4) – The Central Washington University women's basketball team opened its Great Northwest Athletic Conference season with a bang, defeating Saint Martin's University 62-47 Thursday night in Nicholson Pavilion.
 
With the win, CWU improves to 4-2 on the season and starts the seasons 1-0 in the GNAC.  Saint Martin's who finished in sixth-place in the GNAC last season now stands with a 2-5 record, 0-1 in the GNAC.
 
The slow paced first half resulted in a 27-25 lead for the Saints.  Neither team shot particularly well from the field with SMU holding a slight edge in shooting percentage over the Wildcats (36.7 to 32.3).

"The first half was a battle defensively and their physicality took us out of rhythm," CWU head coach Jeff Harada.  "We became stagnant and forgot to cut and screen like we were supposed to."
 
The Wildcat offense found its groove in the second half connecting on 52.2 percent of their shots and making 10 of 12 free throw attempts.  The Wildcats gained its first lead of the contest in the second half after back-to-back three pointers by Melanie Valdez and Courtney Johnson gave Central a 32-27 lead with 17:48 left in the contest. 

"We came out more focused defensively and it helped jumpstart our offense," Harada said about his teams performance in the second half. "We got our confidence back and our bench came up big.  Everyone who played contributed for us tonight."
 
Central Washington never looked back and never trailed again in the contest, and led by as many as 19 points when Hannah Shine knocked down a trey with just under five minutes remaining in the game.
 
Johnson, who poured in 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting, led the Wildcats offensively.  Junior Alexis Berrysmith also scored in double-figures with 11 points.
 
Jasmine Parker controlled the paint defensively swatting four Saints shots while pulling down 12 rebounds and adding eight points.
 
The Wildcats next face Western Oregon University this Saturday at 5:15 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion.