ELLENSBURG, Wash.- Junior guard Jasmine Edwards paced the Wildcat offense with 20 points off a 3-for-7 performance from beyond the arch, but the Central Washington University women's basketball team fell in a 77-70 decision to Hawaii Pacific on Saturday at Nicholson Pavilion.
"Tough loss for us tonight," CWU head coach
Jeff Harada said. "We played our best half of the season because we finally were able to make some shots and it gave us a lot of confidence and energy on the defensive end as well. Unfortunately, when our shooting suffered in the 3rd quarter, it caused us to hang our heads a little and it affected our defense. Tons of credit to HPU. They hit some big shots in the 3rd and some timely ones in the 4th. They're a very good team."
The Wildcats were 25-56 (44.6%) from the field, compared to a 43.9% mark (25-57) for the Sharks.
The Central (4-3, 0-0 GNAC) offense was led by the 8-for-15 shooting performance, including a 3-for-7 effort from 3-point range, by Edwards to total a season-high 20 points. The Lynnwood, Washington native also recorded six assists and grabbed four rebounds.
Junior
Taylor Baird scored 18 points (8-12) to compliment her seven rebounds and two assists. Baird has now scored at least 15 points and five rebounds in four games this year.
Senior guard
Kortney Grattic set a new season-high with 18 points after making two 3-pointers on five attempts.
Sophomore
JonNae Richardson hauled in a team-high ten rebounds and scored seven points, including a 3-for-4 performance from the charity strike.
Grattic kicked off the Wildcat's scoring effort with a pair of free throws to give Central an early 2-0 lead. The score was deadlocked at 8-8 midway through the first period before
Sadie Mensing dished the ball to Baird for an easy layup. The Wildcats launched a 11-2 spurt to close out the quarter with a 19-10 advantage.
The momentum stayed in Central's favor in the early goings of the second period. A successful 3-pointer by Edwards extended CWU's lead to 22-12. Pacific's Brianne Yasukochi responded with a three of her own to close the gap to 22-15. The hot-handed Wildcats would once again string together an impressive run to close out the half with a 17-point lead (38-21). Edwards recorded eight points in the quarter to lead all Wildcats in scoring.
The Sharks scored the opening four points of the second quarter to trim its deficit to 13 (38-25) before a layup by Edwards halted Pacific's run. A six-minute scoring drought by the Wildcats allowed Hawaii Pacific to comeback within two (42-40) via a 13-point spurt before a 3-pointer by Janessa Manzano would give the Sharks their first lead of the game. CWU relied on Edwards to once again end Pacific's run, recording a layup to regain a 44-43 lead. The third stanza would end with an old-fashioned three-point play by Pacific's Cece Pearl to give them a 46-44 advantage.
The fourth quarter would feature Pacific gaining a 14-point lead (61-47) following a three pointer by Manzano. Grattic recorded five straight points for CWU to close the scoring margin to 61-52. A last ditch five-point effort by Edwards in the closing seconds of the game would not be enough to give the Wildcats the victory, as they fell 77-70.
"I liked that we were able to put up 70 points and that we made a run to make it a one possession game late," Harada said. "We need to build on those things and learn from our mistakes. I know we are a capable team and I'm hopeful we will have the toughness to bounce back for our conference opener on Tuesday."
Hawaii Pacific (2-2) was led by 21 points from VeAnne Navarro.
The Wildcats will kick off conference play this Tuesday as they travel to Nampa, Idaho to battle Northwest Nazarene. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
-CWU-
