Bellingham, Wash. (Jan. 26) - The Central Washington University women's basketball flexed their defensive muscle against Western Washington. The Wildcats held the Vikings to a 32.8 shooting percentage, going on to take the game 76-61 on Saturday night.

"Extremely proud of our kids for the way that they bounced back tonight after a tough loss on Thursday," CWU head coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "I loved how our team competed on and played together on the defensive side of the ball." 

The Wildcats (12-5, 7-3) struggled to maintain possession of the ball early against the Vikings (10-8, 5-5). With 4:20 remaining in the first quarter, the Wildcats had turned the ball over four times. The Vikings made six points off of turnovers, allowing them to creep to an 11-6 lead. In the closing minutes of the first quarter, Alexis Pana hit consecutive three-pointers, giving the Wildcats a 17-16 lead. 

The Vikings sunk a pair of free-throws with five seconds remaining in the first quarter. Brianna Phiakhamngon dribbled down the court before temporarily loosing possession. She quickly gathered the ball and launched a shot from just outside the elbow as the buzzer sounded. She nailed it, giving the Wildcats a 19-18 at the end of the first quarter. 

The Wildcat offense found their rhythm in the opening moments of the second quarter. They went on a 13-3 run that lasted 5:32. Sadie Mensing capped the run with three-pointer from the left wing. Mensing scored five points during that span. In the closing moments of the first half, Pana nailed a step-back three that grew the Wildcat lead to 11. The Wildcats carried a 40-31 lead over the Vikings into halftime. 

Offense sputtered for both the Wildcats and Vikings coming out of the break. Kassidy Malcolm got the Wildcats going with 6:17 reaming in the quarter. She hit back-to-back three-pointers, growing the Wildcat lead to 48-35. 

At the 4:40 mark, Samantha Bowman made a layup off of a nice pass from Pana. On the Wildcats next possession, Bowman hit another layup. The Wildcats next trip down the floor resulted in a put back layup from Bowman, who was fouled on the shot. She missed the free-throw, but went on a short 6-3 run by herself. 

After a slow offensive start, the Wildcats outscored the Vikings 24-14 in the third quarter. Taylor Shaw put an exclamation point on the quarter, hitting a three-pointer in the closing seconds. As the period ended, the Wildcats enjoyed a 64-45 lead. The Wildcats cruised through the fourth quarter, picking up the 76-61 win.

Malcolm put together an outstanding night for the Wildcats on Saturday. Malcolm poured in 18 points while nearly picking up a double-double with nine rebounds. Despite not scoring in the second half, Pana had 14 points with four rebounds and four assists. Mensing was money for the Wildcats, adding 12 points, five rebounds and four assists. 

"WWU is a good team who presented a lot of challenges for us nut we found our energy on offense through our defense," Richardson-Thornley said. 

The Wildcats return to Ellensburg on Thursday. They host Concordia (Ore.) at 7:00 p.m. inside Nicholson Pavilion.