ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Jan. 26) – The Central Washington University women's basketball team handed Saint Martin's University a 63-56 loss in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup.
The Wildcats improve to 8-11 overall and 3-8 in GNAC play. The Saints fall to 5-14 and 1-10 in GNAC contests.
Central Washington stormed out to an 18-10 lead after the first quarter, including posting an 18-8 advantage with 40 seconds remaining. A late bucket by Saint Martin's Shelbie Drey cut the Wildcats' lead to eight.
"Really pleased with how we competed for a big team win tonight," CWU Head Coach
Jeff Harada said afterward. "I thought we started the game well and were able to control tempo for the most part. The second quarter was kind of the opposite, but I liked how we responded to the challenge at halftime and came out with better energy and effort in the second half. Our rebounding was better and we got back to pushing in transition which got us the lead in the first place."
The second quarter posed a challenge for the Wildcats. The Saints outscored Central Washington 17-10 and cut the deficit to one on two separate occasions, while they took the lead once.
Jasmin Edwards jumper with 25 seconds remaining in the second quarter put the Wildcats up by one as both sides headed into the locker room.
The Wildcats put up their most prolific period of the night in the third quarter, tallying 24 points. Central battled for five points off turnovers, six second chance points, 14 points in the paint, and six fast break points in the third quarter.
The Saints managed to outscore the Wildcats 13-11 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late.
"We shared the ball well and made the extra pass," Harada added. "Twenty-two assists is a great number and you only get those assists by making shots, so shooting nearly 50 percent definitely helped our cause."
Taylor Baird dished out seven assists, a season high for the junior. She also added eight points, four rebounds, one block, and one steal.
"It was awesome to see Taylor lead us in assists since we worked a lot on passing out of the post this week," Harada acknowledged.
Sadie Mensing finished with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, one block, and three steals.
"Sadie had a tremendous all-around game stuffing the stat sheet," Harada noted. "She works so hard every day in practice so it's not surprising when she puts up these types of numbers. Kortney shot well tonight and our bench gave us a huge lift on both ends with a lot of positive production."
Kortney Grattic added 12 points. Edwards finished with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
Sarah McGee was named the Quality Inn Player of the Game with nine points, five rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.
"We'll enjoy this one tonight then get back to work tomorrow to prepare for a very good SPU team on Saturday," Harada finished.
The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday (Jan. 28) against Seattle Pacific. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion. Live stats and video are available at wildcatsports.com.
