PORTLAND, Ore.- The Central Washington University women's basketball team kicked off its 2016-17 campaign with a 74-58 victory over Stanislaus State University. Sophomore forward JonNae Richardson recorded her first career double-double to give Central its third straight season opening win.
 
""Great team win tonight," CWU head coach Jeff Harada said. "Though we had some rough moments I thought we did a good job overall of handling their pressure all game. We talked about winning the rebounding battle before the game and our team responded to the challenge. Stanislaus is very long and athletic and they made us work for everything."
 
Twenty of CWU's 26 field goals were assisted and Central buried 20 of 30 free throws for a 66.7% clip.
 
Richardson recorded her first career double-double, registering 11 points (ties career-high), including a 2-for-2 night from the free throw line, to go with a new career-high 13 rebounds.
 
"Really proud of our bench," Harada said. "(JonNae) came in and had the break out game we've been waiting for her to have, and Taylor Shaw shook off some early jitters and was a spark in the 3rd quarter."
 
Taylor Baird led all Wildcat scorers with 15 points and hauled in six rebounds. She shot 63.6% from the floor and added one assist.
 
"Taylor is still learning how to score within our offense and made some nice adjustments in the 2nd half which got her higher percentage shots," Harada said.
 
Jasmin Edwards dished out a team-high six assists. She also scored 11 points, including a 10-for-14 night at the free throw line, to go with 3 rebounds.
 
Sadie Mensing set a new career-high mark in steals (3) and equaled her career-high in assists (3). She also scored eight points (2-for-3 from the free throw line) and registered five rebounds.
 
Taylor Shaw tallied nine points (4-9) in 12 minutes of play to go along with four rebounds.
 
Stanislaus State jumped out to a 6-1 advantage to begin the contest. The Wildcats battled back to even the score at 7-7 with a successful jumper coming from Sadie Mensing. It was back and forth for the remainder of the first quarter, with the Wildcats leading by as many as five (17-12). Central ended the first period with a 19-17 lead. The Wildcats out-shot the Warriors
 
The Warriors came out of the gate strong in the second period, claiming a 20-19 advantage following a 3-0 run. A scoring drought, lasting over three minutes and thirty seconds, ensued for both teams. A layup from Mensing ended the drought and allowed the Wildcats to reclaim the lead, 20-21.  A Wildcat 7-0 run, behind a pair of free throws by Edwards and a layup from Taylor Shaw extended Central's lead to six (26-20). A SSU three-pointer by Reana Hardin with two seconds remaining in the first half cut CWU's lead to 31-29.
 
The first half featured four lead changes as both teams struggled making baskets. Central shot 31% (9-29) from the field and 13-of-20 from the foul line, while holding Stanislaus State to 29.2% shooting (7-24). The Wildcats held the advantage in points in the paints and rebounds in the first half, leading the Warriors 14-2 and 24-18, respectively.
 
Following a Warrior layup by Lailoni Gaines in the opening minutes of the third quarter to even the score at 31-31, the Wildcats strung together an 8-2 run to take a 39-33 lead. The remainder of the third quarter was all CWU, leading by as many 17 (57-40). Two successful free throws by Sarah McGee capped off Central's scoring production in the third quarter, as the Wildcats led 59-43.
 
The Warriors cut to within seven (61-54) after making their first five shots of the fourth period, but the Wildcats built back to a 11-point edge (65-54) following back-to-back layups by Rachel Lorentson and Baird. Central continued to claim points in bunches for the remainder of the game. Spreading the ball around, CWU ended the fourth quarter on a 13-4 run with six different Wildcats recording points. Central got two stops on the defensive end and Kaelie Flores recorded a layup in the closing seconds of the game to set the final margin at 74-54.
 
Reana Hardin led Stanislaus State (0-1) with 12 points.
 
"It was a great win to start the season, especially since they were picked 2nd in their league," Harada explained. "I'm excited to see if we can build off this and bring the same energy and effort tomorrow."
 
The Wildcats finish their two-game, season-opening road stand Saturday against California State University Monterey Bay. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PST.
 
-CWU-