LAIE, Hawaii- The Central Washington University women's basketball team (4-1) defeated the University of Hawaii at Hilo (0-2) 48-32 Saturday night at the Cannon Activities Center.
 
"Great bounce back win tonight," CWU head coach Jeff Harada said. "I know our players were excited to get back on the court and we had great energy throughout the game. Once again, our defense kept us in the game and we were able to go on a few mini runs to hold the lead. Hilo is a very scrappy team and they made us work for 40 minutes."
 
Junior forward Taylor Baird finished with a double-double scoring a team-high 14 points (7-12) and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Beverly Verduin went 2-for-3 beyond the arch and 3-for-4 from the free throw line to tally nine points. Junior Jasmine Edwards recorded five assists, two blocks and four points on then night.
 
"It is always nice when different players contribute and we had several step up at different moments tonight," Harada explained. "Overall, we're happy to get two wins and I know the team will have great memories of their experience here."
 
Central jumped out to an early 8-2 lead behind successful jump shots from Edwards, Kortney Grattic, Rachel Lorentson and Sarah McGee. The Vulcans would put together a 5-0 run of their own to close the scoring margin to 8-7. A three-minute scoring drought by both teams would close out the first period with the Wildcats having the slight advantage.
 
The second quarter featured back-to-back three-pointers from Verduin in a span of less than 30 seconds to extend CWU's lead to 16-7. Hawaii Hilo battled back once again, closing the gap to 16-13 following a pair of free throws from Jamaika Lorenzo and a layup by Asia Smith. Baird would score her second basket of the quarter midway through to stretch the Wildcat's advantage to 19-13. Sadie Mensing recorded four points from the charity strike to give the Wildcats a 23-15 edge at the half break.
 
Baird made the Wildcats first four baskets of the third period to build a 14-point edge (31-17). Lorentson continued Central's scoring effort, knocking down a three-pointer following a defensive rebound from Edwards. A couple free throws from Shar Graham-Bernisto would cut Central's lead, but Edwards came up with an off-balance jumper to bring the game to 36-21 in favor of CWU.
 
McGee hauled in a defensive rebound in the early goings of the fourth quarter and dished it to Alexis Pana to give the Wildcats a 39-24 lead. Taylor Shaw would assist a made jumper from McGee midway through the period to extend Central's lead to 18 (43-25). The Wildcats kept up the pressure and would maintain the edge the rest of the way en route to the 48-32 victory.
 
Hawaii Hilo was led by a game-high nine points from Asia Smith.
 
The Wildcats will now head home to Ellensburg, Wash. following their three-game road swing in the Aloha state. Central will compete next against California State University – San Bernardino on Friday (Nov. 25) at Nicholson Pavilion.
 
-CWU-