ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Feb. 21) – Taylor Baird and
Kortney Grattic led the Central Washington University women's basketball team to an 84-76 overtime victory against Northwest Nazarene University.
The Wildcats improve to 13-14 overall and 8-11 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. They are also 2-0 on the season in overtime games. The Crusaders fall to 11-14 overall and 9-10 in the GNAC.
"Great win for us tonight and I'm so proud of how we stayed together and never quite playing," CWU Head Coach
Jeff Harada said. "Northwest Nazarene is a very good team who is very talented and balanced offensively.
Randi Richardson had some good ideas in defending some of their sets and though they got close to their scoring average, holding them to 32 percent shooting showed a great effort from us defensively. Both teams are fighting to get to the playoffs and that was the atmosphere tonight."
Baird finished 10-for-16 from the field, scoring 26 points, with 12 rebounds, five assists, and one steal. Grattic tallied 13 points, nine rebounds, and two assists.
A Both sides struggled at times in the first half and saw the first 20 minutes of play end at 29-29. Baird notched a last possession layup for the Wildcats, levelling the score.
"Definitely had some nerves early on," Harada noted. "But we settled down and just played basketball. We were getting beat on the offensive glass too much early on, so to say I was elated after seeing we outrebounded them for the game is an understatement."
Central Washington turned the ball over eight times in the first half, while Northwest Nazarene coughed it up nine times. The Crusaders hauled in 26 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, including 10 offensive rebounds.
The Wildcats stormed out at the start of the third quarter, pulling ahead by six multiple times. The Crusaders kept within striking distance well into the fourth quarter, eventually drawing even with Central at 56-56 with 3:18 left on the clock.
The Crusaders pulled ahead by four, 66-62, with just 38 seconds to play in regulation.
Rachel Lorentson drained a three with 30 seconds remaining, before Danielle Jardine was fouled and converted two free throws.
Trailing 68-65 with 24 seconds remaining, the Wildcats took control for a season defining possession.
Out of timeouts, the Wildcats needed to run the entire floor to maneuver into position for a shot.
Jasmin Edwards took the ball across center and slid down the sideline toward her own bench. Edwards gave the Wildcats' lone senior the ball and Grattic unleashed a game-tying three with just six seconds left.
A timeout by Northwest Nazarene advanced the ball over half court for one final chance to win in regulation. A turnover by the Crusaders ended their opportunity for a regulation win and sent the game into overtime.
"We had players set up when we needed them to and I was really happy for Kortney who probably played her best game of the year on her Senior Night," Harada noted. "It was extra sweet that we got the win for her."
The Wildcats started overtime on a 6-0 run before the Crusaders found their first bucket. Northwest Nazarene dropped the Wildcats' advantage to two, but Central Washington held on for an 84-76 win.
Edwards finished with a double-double, tallying 19 points, 10 assists, two rebounds, and two steals.
"We did a nice job in transition and also getting the ball inside to Taylor," Harada added. "Jasmin was really aggressive as well and did a nice job of finishing in traffic.
Sarah McGee got some critical rebounds down the stretch and we made enough plays to win a big game. Overall just really excited for our team."
Central scored 54 points in the paint, 11 second chance points, 10 points off of turnovers, and 10 fast break points.
"We only three threes all night, but they were all big ones," Harada finished.
Central Washington plays its final game of the regular season on Thursday (Feb. 23) at Montana State Billings.
