ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University women's basketball team had its four-game win streak ended Saturday night in a 85-76 loss to Northwest Nazarene. The loss puts CWU at 7-4 overall and 2-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
Helping the Nighthawks (8-3, 3-0 GNAC) secure the win was a fast start in the opening quarter and a defense that forced 19 CWU turnovers on the night. NNU converted those turnovers to 24 points and added 19 on fast break opportunities.
 
The Wildcats managed to win the points in the paint battle, 28-26, but NNU led the way in nearly every facet of the game. They had a 16-9 edge in second chance points and their bench outproduced CWU's reserves 33-16. The combination helped the Nighthawks lead wire-to-wire.
 
"Coming into tonight's game we knew NNU was a very high-pressure team and will speed you up," CWU Assistant Coach Jessica Richardson said. "The first half we kind of played into that and I think we had 19 turnovers overall. We did better in the second half at slowing it down and playing at our own pace."
 
The Nighthawks controlled the first half from the start as they raced out to a 14-9 lead in the first five minutes of play. The Wildcats kept NNU from really opening its lead in the first quarter and trailed 25-16 after one.
 
Helping NNU get out to its lead was a 9-21 shooting performance in the opening quarter for 42.9%. The Wildcats shot 5-11 for 45.5%, but eight first quarter turnovers led to 13 easy points for the Nighthawks. NNU also connected on four triples while CWU had just two.
 
The Nighthawks continued to have a solid start to the first 1:30 of play in the second and raced out to a 32-19 lead on 3-3 made shots, forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout. The pace never slowed down but CWU managed to keep the game within reach. NNU entered halftime with a 48-37 lead.
 
The second quarter was nearly identical for the two squads shooting wise. NNU shot 52.6% in the second on 10-19 made shots but was just 2-6 from deep. CWU shot 53.3% from the floor (8-15) and was 4-5 from beyond the arc for 80%.
 
The Nighthawks had the edge in points off turnovers with 15 on 11 CWU turnovers. They also had the edge in points in the paint, 16-12, and on fast break, 12-3. The rebounding battle was even at 17-all, but NNU took solid care of the ball with just four turnovers.
 
Kaelie Flores paced the CWU offense in the first half with 12 points and had four rebounds. Avery Albrecht was the top scorer for NNU with 18 first half points. Kassidy Malcolm and Brianna Phiakhamngon each had six for the Wildcats as well.
 
The third quarter was evenly matched from a scoring standpoint as both squads scored 18 points, respectively. The Wildcats had moments to getting the score within one possession, but the Nighthawks answered every time.
 
CWU got within seven a handful of times in the third and managed to shoot 42.9% (6-14) from the floor overall. NNU was at 41.2% going 7-17. Helping the Wildcats close the gap was 3-4 made three-pointers in the third. Despite the opportunities, NNU led 66-55 going into the fourth.
 
The fourth quarter was the only time the Wildcats outscored the Nighthawks as they had a 21-19 edge. Despite outscoring NNU, CWU trailed by as much as 15 in the fourth and was unable to recover from the fast start by the visitors. The Wildcats got within eight a few times, but once again NNU had a response to secure the road win.
 
Leading the way for the Wildcats was Flores with a game-high 24 points on 9-16 shooting. She also grabbed nine rebounds and had four blocks. Malcolm scored 13 points in her first game of the year. She shot 5-9 and had nine boards. Samantha Bowman and Phiakhamngon each chipped in 10 points, respectively.
 
"Offensively, Kaelie [Flores] did really well. She ended up with 20-plus points," Coach Richardson noted. "She found those drives and rebounded pretty well too."
 
As a team, CWU shot 25-61 for 41% and was 10-21 from deep for 47.6%. NNU finished at 44.8% on 30-67 shooting and was 46.2% from three-point range for 46.2%. CWU won the rebounding battle 42-36.
 
CWU will not step on the hardwood until the start of the next decade. The Wildcats will hit the road for three-straight games starting at Montana State University Billings on January 2, 2020. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT in Billings.