ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Nov. 30) – Kaelie Flores and Beverly Verduin scored in double-digits, but the Central Washington University women's basketball team fell to the University of Alaska Anchorage 70-58.
 
The Wildcats fall to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while the Seawolves stay undefeated at 7-0, with a 1-0 mark in GNAC competition.
 
Flores finished with a team high 13 points, while Verduin tallied 12.
 
The Seawolves claimed an early lead in the first quarter, taking a 20-12 lead into the second stanza.  The Wildcats cut the Seawolves lead to 20-17, a one possession game, with 8:29 to play in the second quarter on a layup from Sadie Mensing.  Anchorage responded with an 8-0 run, opening their first double-digit lead of the game, 28-17.
 
The Wildcats fought to keep it close, with a jumper from Alexis Pana and a three from Kassidy Malcolm, but the Seawolves found another short run to extend their advantage.  The teams went into the locker room at half with the Wildcats trailing 42-29.
 
The second half was much of the same.  The Seawolves extended their lead to upwards of 20 at the end of the third quarter as the Wildcats battled for control.  
 
Turnovers and shooting troubles plagued the Wildcats throughout the game. In total, the Wildcats turned the ball over 24 times and shot just 35.1 percent from the floor.  The rebounding battle finished at a draw with both teams collecting 39 rebounds.  Anchorage edged out Central in offensive rebounds 20-14.
 
"It's hard to win a game when you have 24 turnovers and give up 20 offensive rebounds to a good team like Anchorage," CWU Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said.  "Even with that said, if we limit one of Anchorage's runs and knock down a couple open looks it becomes a closer game.  I'm proud of how our kids competed and didn't hang their heads after the Seawolves made their run in the third quarter.  We took a step forward tonight in becoming the competitors this team strives to be."
 
Taylor Baird led the Wildcats in rebounds, hauling in eight.  Mensing finished six assists, while Jasmin Edwards added nine points and four assists.
 
The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday (Dec. 2) at Alaska Fairbanks.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. PT.