PORTLAND, Ore.- Junior Taylor Baird registered her first double-double as a member of the Central Washington University women's basketball team to propel the Wildcats to a 55-48 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay Saturday afternoon.
 
CWU earned its second consecutive 2-0 start by limiting Cal State Monterey Bay to a 30.2% shooting night (19-63). The Wildcats shot 31% (18-58) from the floor.
 
The Wildcats had no trouble recording buckets from the charity line, tallying 18 points on 24 attempts (75%).
 
Baird poured in a season-high 19 points, which included a 3-for-6 evening from the foul line, for her second straight 15-plus point game. She also hauled down a team-high 11 rebounds to record a double-double, her first as a Wildcat. The Snohomish, Washington native also added one assist and steal to her stat line.
 
Junior point guard Jasmine Edwards scored 10 points to go along with nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. She was 6-for-8 at the foul line and has now finished in double-figures for the second consecutive game.
 
Junior forward Rachel Lorentson recorded a new career-best seven rebounds and added six points with two assists.
 
The Wildcats made two of their first three field goal attempts as Lorentson grabbed a rebound and dished it to Baird for the first score of the game. After an old-fashioned 3-point play by Baird, Central would grab an early 8-3 lead and the contest would be tied for the first time at eight. A back and forth defensive battle ensued for the remainder of the first quarter until a jumper by Sarah McGee in the closing seconds gave Central the 13-10 advantage.
 
The Otters made their first three shots of the second period to claim a 15-14 lead. Central responded well, stringing together a 6-1 run to reclaim the lead 20-16. The Wildcats would enter the second half down 21-20 after a 4:23 scoring drought.
 
An offensive rebound by sophomore Sadie Mensing, followed by a successful jumper by Grattic kicked off CWU's scoring effort in the second half. Next Wildcat possession, Grattic swished a step-back 3-pointer to extend Central's lead to 25-21. Later in the period, with the score tied at 29-29, Edwards poked the ball away from Cal State Monterey Bay's Aubri Smith and raced down the court to record a fast break layup. The Wildcats would close out the third quarter on a 6-2 run to make the game 35-31 in favor of CWU.
 
The game tightened in the fourth quarter as the Otters closed the scoring margin to 39-38 behind a layup by Smith and 3-pointer by Victoria Dorn. Baird and the Wildcats, however, did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game. Baird recorded eight points, a steal and an assist down the final stretch of the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats a five-point cushion with 11 seconds remaining. JonNae Richardson would record a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to give Central the 55-48 victory.
 
Victoria Dorn led Cal State Monterey Bay (0-2) with 16 points.
 
The Wildcats will travel to Hawaii next weekend to play three games. Action will tipoff in Honolulu, Hawaii on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. against Chaminade University.
 
-CWU-