MONMOUTH, Ore. (Feb. 26) – Central Washington University senior Courtney Johnson scored ten of the Wildcats final 13 points, leading the Women's basketball team to a 54-52 win over Western Oregon University Thursday night in Monmouth, Ore.
 
The win pulls the Wildcats to 12-13 on the season and 7-10 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.  The Wildcats came into the game in a three-way tie with Montana State Billings and Saint Martin's for the final to spots in the GNAC Tournament.  Billings lost to Alaska earlier in the evening and Saint Martin's defeated Northwest Nazarene. 
 
The Wildcats now sit in a tie with Saint Martin's who they play this Saturday, while Billings plays top-ranked Alaska Anchorage who has lost just one game this season.  If the Wildcats defeat SMU Saturday they will secure the fifth seed in the GNAC Tournament.
 
Johnson finished with a game high 20 points, 13 of which came in the final five minutes, helping to erase a late five point deficit.
 
Central Washington jumped out to a 6-2 lead with a pair of jumper shots from Johnson and two free throws by Jasmine Parker. An 8-0 run by the Wolves put the home team up 10-6 and by the midway point in the half WOU had a slight 12-11 lead over the Wildcats.
 
A nifty crossover by Jasmin Edwards gave her space to score a floater in the lane and give the Wildcats an 18-15 lead with eight minutes let in the half.  Western Oregon would again answer with a 7-2 run and led 22-20 with 4:07 left.
 
Melanie Valdez hit a 15-foot jumper as time expired and the Wildcats went into halftime down 25-27.
 
Through the first four minutes and 40 seconds of the second half the Wolves outscored the Wildcats 10-5 to build a 37-30 lead.
 
At the final media timeout at 4:06 the Wildcats found themselves down by just one (46-45), and two and a half minutes left Johnson drained a three pointer and the Wildcats took a 48-46 lead.  Again the Wolves responded with a 5-0 run to regain a 51-48 advantage with just over a minute left.
 
Johnson again sank a long three-pointer and knotted the game at 51 apeice.  Johnson wasn't finished yet as she took a post pass from Edwards and scored from under the basket to give the Wildcats a two-point lead with 27 seconds left in regulation.  With 7.1 the Wolves Dana Goularte was fouled and went to the line for two shots.  She missed one free throw and the Wolves were forced to foul, and sent Melanie Valdez to the line.  The junior made the first, and on the second attempt she hit the front iron and the Wildcat defense smothered the Wolves rebounder and refused to let Western Oregon get a chance to shoot a final shot, securing the 54-52 victory.