ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Jan. 31) – Saturday nights Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup against University of Alaska (12-9, GNAC 4-6) at Nicholson Pavilion was seen as a must win for Head Coach Jeff Harada and the Central Washington women's basketball team (11-8, GNAC 6-5). They did just that, handling the Nanooks in a 71-50 victory.

"I thought we did a nice job with our execution and sharing the ball tonight," Harada said. "Our posts were working hard and we wanted to reward them with some touches which kind of opened up the perimeter for us.  We were a lot more aggressive shooting the ball tonight and didn't hesitate when we had a good look."
 
In the first half, the Wildcats' offense was executing perfectly, getting a handful of open looks at the hoop early. Seniors Courtney Johnson and Erika Locker got the game started by hitting wide open three-pointers for the team's first two field goals.  CWU guards Melanie Valdez, Hannah Shine and Jasmin Edwards combined for all seven of the assists in the first half. This led the Wildcats into the second half up 32-20.
 
It was on the other end of the court where CWU was able to show their dominance in the game. They held the Nanooks to only 20 points and a 24.1 field goal percentage in the opening period. Junior Stephanie Toumson was Alaska's biggest contributor scoring 11 of her 13 points in the first half.

"Our defense was outstanding for most of the game," Harada added. "We did a nice job playing their tendencies and tried to make them take tough contested shots. UAF has some good scorers and is a high scoring team, and to contain them took a lot of effort and discipline on our part."
 
The second half had the same rhythm as the first half. The Wildcats opened up the stanza with a 17-4 run sparked by a Chantel Heath lay-in on the Wildcats' first possession.  This run gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game of 25 points and they never looked back.
 
CWU center Jasmine Parker was huge for the Wildcats grabbing nine rebounds in the second half. She ended the night with a double-double scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

"Parker continues to play well for us, and I was happy for her that she was able to step up and bounce back from the tough game she had the last time we played them.  Hopefully she keeps this up for us down the stretch," Harada said.
 
The Wildcats finished with four players scoring in double-digits lead by Edwards' 15, while Locker and Johnson finished with 12 and 11, respectively.  
 
The relentless defense of CWU held UAF to a 29 field goal percentage, only allowing the Nanooks to convert on 1-of-13 three-point shots in the contest.  The Wildcats also held a 52-33 rebound advantage, 40 of which came on the defensive end.
 
Next weekend the Wildcats are on the road, playing Simon Fraser on Feb. 5 and Western Washington on Feb. 7.

"Overall it was a great team win and I'm happy for us. I thought we had balanced scoring and shared the ball really well," Harada concluded. "Hopefully we carry this momentum with us into next week as we have two really big games on the road.  This is the time of the year when every game matters and I'm excited to see how we respond."