ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Jan. 16) - The Central Washington University women's basketball team recorded 47 points in the first half en route to an 83-57 victory over the University of Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks.
"Well, we came out really aggressive and that was part of the game plan," CWU Head Coach
Jeff Harada said. "We know we didn't perform well offensively last game against Anchorage. And I think our kids were ready to rebound and show that we're better than what we showed last game."
The win moves Central to 11-5 overall and 4-4 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference games. Alaska falls to 7-11 overall and 2-6 in the GNAC.
"It was just about being confident today for us," freshman guard
Sadie Mensing said. "I feel like everyone showed that today. Everyone supported each other today. When we scored a basket or grabbed a rebound you could hear our team cheering and rooting for each other. We did a great job of running the floor and making the extra pass."
The Wildcats' 25 assists tied the mark for 5
th most assists in school history. Their shooting percentage of 57.6 is the fifth-best mark in school history and the highest percentage in a game where Central has scored over 80 points.
Tonight's game saw a career high in points for: Mensing (10),
JonNae Richardson (11), and
McKenzie Day (8).
Mandy Steward set a career high in assists (8) and rebounds (5).
Day also finished a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, while Mensing finished 4-for-5.
The Wildcats outscored the Nanooks every quarter, including a 24-10 mark to open the first 10 minutes of play.
Central's defense forced the Nanooks to shoot just 35-percent from the floor, including holding Kaillee Skjold to an 8-for-18 mark from the floor and Jordan Wilson to just a 6-for-19 night.
The Wildcats' bench scored 44 points, putting together another solid night, while Central's freshmen picked up 42 points. The freshman group also shot 69.2-percent from the floor. Defensively, they recorded five steals and 17 rebounds.
"They were hungry and they wanted to play," Harada said regarding his freshman. "They want to get on the court and they work hard at practice like everyone else, and they deserved minutes and they are producing with the minutes they got. Fourty-four points off the bench today was huge, and you can't ask for more than that. We just played so well today offensively, we were unselfish and made the extra pass."
The Wildcats' 83 points is the largest offensive output of the season, eclipsing the 80 points CWU scored against Notre Dame de Namur.
Jasmin Edwards finished with 13 points and seven assists.
Alexis Berrysmith recorded eight points and eight rebounds.
"We talked about the next few weeks," Harada said of his pregame talks. "Tonight was a must win to get back to .500. We know we didn't play well against Anchorage and we were eager to show our best effort. We're going to take the rest of the season one game at a time and we understand that it's a process. We showed what kind of team we are tonight and how well we can play, just like we did at Simon Fraser and at Western Washington and that's the team we need to show up every night if we want to make a run at the conference championship."
Central will be back in action on Thursday (Jan. 21) for a road game at Western Oregon. The Wildcats then head to Concordia University on Saturday (Jan. 23). Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. both nights.
