Central Washington University Athletics

ELLENSBURG, Wash.- The Central Washington University women's basketball team shot 50 percent from the field to defeat Cal State L.A. 82-71 Monday evening in Nicholson Pavilion, improving to 5-5 on the season.
 
Cal State LA falls to 5-5, 2-0 CCAA.
 
"I am really proud of the kids," CWU head coach Jeff Harada said. "We had a few good days of practice leading up to the game and our confidence was high. We wanted to bring some swagger back because I think we have been missing a lot of that. We came out today wanting to control tempo early, which I thought we did well. Once we started hitting some open jump shots, it kind of got contagious and everyone started shooting the ball well. It was just a big team win and it's great to break our losing streak."
 
Junior guard Jasmin Edwards returned from injury to pace the Wildcats with 13 points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals and one block. Sophomore forward JonNae Richardson scored 10 points while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.

Senior guard Kortney Grattic scored a career-high 20 points, including a 12-for-12 effort from the charity stripe to go along with three assists and two rebounds. Junior Taylor Baird scored 11 points and hauled in six rebounds.
 
Sophomore Sadie Mensing went 7-of-9 from the floor to tally 14 points.
 
"Sadie has improved so much from her freshman year," Harada said. "I thought her defensive energy really helped her out on offense. JonNae came off the bench and brought a little bit of toughness for us. She is one of our more athletic kids and against an athletic team like Cal State L.A. she was able to play her game and use her strength inside."
 
"Kortney was finding ways to score and get to the basket," Harada continued. "Going 12 for 12 from the foul line was huge for her. It is also great to have Jasmin back. She didn't look like she had any rust on her at all and I though she played very well."
 
The Wildcats controlled the tempo for the majority of the first quarter. Grattic kicked off Central's scoring effort, knocking down a three-pointer in the first 20 seconds of action. With just under three minutes remaining in the stanza, the score was deadlocked at 18-18. The Wildcats would close out the period on a 6-2 run behind layups from Sarah McGee and Richardson to hold a 24-20 advantage. Central Washington outshot the Golden Eagles 53.3 percent (8-15) to 43.8 percent (7-16) in the first quarter.
 
Following a successful shot from beyond the arch by Cal State LA's Samantha Lee, CWU strung together six straight points to regain a seven-point lead (30-23). With 1:30 remaining in the stanza, Mensing picked off CSLA's Mackenzie Barnes's pass and drove it in for an easy layup to extend CWU's lead to 46-32. The Wildcats pulled out an 8-2 run including back-to-back jumpers by Baird and Mensing for their largest lead of the game, 50-34, before the half. The second period featured seven Wildcats tallying points.

CWU struggled from the floor in the third quarter shooting 33.3 percent, as the Golden Eagles outscored the Wildcats 21-18. Grattic led Central's offensive attack with seven points. The Wildcats were 4-of-12 from the field in the stanza and entered the fourth quarter up 68-55.
 
CSLA began the final period on an 8-2 run to bring the scoring margin to seven (70-63). The Wildcats responded with a 4-0 run of their own to regain a double-digit lead (74-63). The Golden Eagles could get no closer and the Wildcats would come away with the 82-71 victory.
 
Cal State LA (5-5) was led by a game-high 22 points from Rikke Fabricius.
 
The Wildcats will travel to Moscow, Idaho to play the University of Idaho on Dec. 17 at 3 p.m.
 
-CWU-