ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Feb. 20) – The Central Washington University women's basketball team snapped its five-game losing streak with a 61-46 victory over Western Oregon University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.  The Wildcats are now 16-10 overall and 9-9 in GNAC games.  The Wolves fall to 4-22 overall and 3-15 in conference contests.
 
"We talked about it last night and today at shoot around, we needed to forget the last five games," CWU Head Coach Jeff Harada said.  "Throw it in the rear view mirror and understand we have a great opportunity ahead to secure a tournament berth.  I think it was a relief for them to hear that we weren't going to dwell on the past.  I think it got us a little looser tonight to start."
 
The Wildcats were back in form on Saturday, holding Western Oregon to just 46 points and just one player to double-digits.  Kaylie Boschma recorded 16 points for the Wolves.
 
"We were definitely a lot more positive and had more energy today than in the past few games, Parker added.  "We converted more on both ends, got a few stops defensively."
 
Central's defense recorded five blocks, all by Jasmine Parker, and six steals. 
 
"Parker was really good in the first half, especially with her help defense and helping our guards," Harada said of his senior center.  "She has played really well In the past two games and we need her to play well.  I think she understands that.  Tonight she had a nice stat line and did her part.  Other players stepped up and hit some shots, so when we get contributions like that across the board we are tough to beat."
 
The first seven minutes see-sawed before Central Washington pulled ahead at the end of the first quarter, 16-10.
 
"We played together more tonight than we have in the past few games," Parker stated.  
We really shared the ball tonight. You could see the chemistry we share on the court tonight."
 
Central held Western Oregon to just seven points in the second quarter, staking out a 32-17 lead. 
 
"I thought our defense was really good," Harada noted.  "We took away what they wanted to do.  We forced them to scramble by getting the shot clock down.  We took away the reversal pass and forced them to make decisions.  For the most part I thought our defense was pretty solid."
 
The Wildcats bench contributed 30 points, including 12 from Mandy Steward.  Steward hit all 12 points from beyond the arc.  She added four rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
 
Coach Harada used a full compliment of players in tonight's game.  Every Wildcat that recorded a shot also recorded at least two points.
 
"It was great to see some kids go in and hit shots who may have not hit shots in a few games," Harada added.  "We were playing a little looser and there wasn't that pressure from focusing on the past few games.  We were playing with each other and having fun tonight.  We played really good defense and that was our focus tonight."
 
 
Central hit eight three-pointers during the contest.  The Wildcats finished with a shooting percentage of 38. 
 
Along with her five blocks, Parker added seven points and nine rebounds.  Parker recorded her 1,000^th career point Thursday against Concordia after becoming Central's all-time leader in blocks.
 
"It was fun [hitting 1,000 points], it's a great accomplishment and I worked hard for it so it was fun to see it pay off," Parker said.  "I had no idea I was that close until people started telling me I was close and some posts on social media.  It wasn't really a concern, but I wasn't trying for it. It was nice to get, but it was like 'hey next play' after I got it."
 
The Wildcats are currently fifth in the conference table heading into the final week of GNAC play.  The win over Western Oregon helps keep breathing room between the Wildcats and Northwest Nazarene.
 
"We know we need to go out and win these next games to solidify our spot in the tournament," Parker acknowledged.
 
Central closes the regular season with a pair of games next week.  The Wildcats play at Northwest Nazarene on Tuesday before coming home for Senior Night against Montana State Billings.  Tuesday's game is slated to start at 7 p.m. in Nampa, Idaho, while Saturday's game will start at 5:15 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion.
 
"We'd love to go 2-0, but our goal is to play well and give ourselves a chance to win these games," Harada acknowledged.  "We want to give ourselves some confidence heading towards the tournament.  We can't show up and expect to win, we need to know that we can win and take the steps to prepare."