ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- The Central Washington University women's basketball team fell to Montana State Billings University 62-65 Saturday evening in Nicholson Pavilion, falling to 4-5 on the season and 0-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
Billings improves to 3-6, 1-1 in the GNAC.
The Wildcats playing without all-conference point guard
Jasmin Edwards who sat due to injury, but got offensive production from a host of Wildcats.
Sadie Mensing scored a season-high 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting. She also added six rebounds (three offensive), and three assists.
Taylor Baird also poured in 14 points and nabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Nine different Wildcats scored in the game as the CWU bench outscored MSUB 18-9.
JonNae Richardson let the reserves with seven points and five rebounds, and
Alexis Pana, who started in place of Edwards, scored six.
Central Washington outshot the Yellowjackts 43.3 percent to 41.7 percent, but MSUB connected on five three pointers and made 10 free throws, while the Wildcats made just three shots from behind the arc and seven free attempts.
The Wildcats also turned the ball over 14 times, which the Yellowjackets converted into 16 points on the offensive end.
Tiana Hanson who scored 17 points and gathered eight rebounds led Billings.
The Wildcats came out strong and controlled the action for most of the first quarter, holding a five-point lead near the mid point of the period thanks to a pair of baskets by
Taylor Baird and
Sarah McGee. The Yellowjackets went on an 11-4 run to end the stanza to take a 17-15 lead.
The Wildcats battled to tied the game at 22 when McGee corralled a rebound off a Baird shot attempted and laid the ball in with 4:18 left in the second quarter, but an 8-2 spurt by MSUB game the visitors a 30-24 lead with two minutes remaining.
A pair of
JonNae Richardson free throws and a basket by
Rachel Lorentson helped the Wildcats keep pace and enter halftime down 30-36.
The Wildcats shot 38.2 percent from the field, but missed all seven of their three point attempts. Billings make 41.4 percent of its shots and benefited from 15 trips to the free throw line, converting on 10.
In the third quarter the Wildcats outscored MSUB 20-16 with freshman Taylor show scoring five points in just three minutes of action on the court. The Wildcats were 8 of 11 from the field in the quarter and entered the fourth quarter down 52-50.
Kaelie Flores quickly tied the game up, scoring the first fourth quarter with a basket 13 seconds into the stanza. The Wildcats could not capture the lead, even after closing to within one point on a Baird lay in with a minute left to go. The Yellowjackes scored 20 seconds later, propelling themselves to the 65-62 victory.
The will look to get back on track when they host California State University Los Angeles on Dec. 12 at 6 p.m.
Quotes from CWU Head Coach Jeff Harada
"Really proud of how we competed and fought to stay in this game all the way to the end. It just came down to them taking advantage of some costly turnovers and hitting some timely shots down the stretch. We definitely had some opportunities on our end, but have to find a way to make shots when we need them. We know we have good shooters, but 18% from three is not going to get it done."
"Obviously not having Jasmin hurt us, but I thought our offense was fine for the most part. Her absence affected us more on the defensive end. I did think Alexis had some good moments in her first career start and hopefully she learned some things that will help her going forward."
"Sadie was awesome and was making plays all over the court. She works so hard every day in practice and it was a treat to watch her play tonight."
"Our rebounding was definitely better in the 2nd half and our 20 assists were definitely a positive. The team was very disappointed in the locker room tonight and that shows me how much they care. After taking a few days off for finals, I know we'll have a sense of urgency to get back to work and prepare for our next game."
