ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Central Washington University women's basketball dropped its third-straight game Thursday night as they fell 68-51 on the road to No. 7-ranked University of Alaska Anchorage. The loss puts CWU's record at 7-6 overall and 2-3 in the GNAC.
 
Multiple factors played into the Seawolves win (15-1, 5-0 GNAC) as they controlled nearly every facet of the game. Their biggest edge came in turnovers as they forced 21 and only had six of their own. The 21 CWU turnovers led to 17 UAA points.
 
With the Wildcats playing without Alexis Pana, the bench looked add more production in the game as they scored 20 points, but the Seawolf reserves had 29 to hold the advantage. Points in the paint also fell in UAA's favor 32-16. Despite the majority edge, CWU battled with the nationally ranked Seawolves the whole night.

"I'm very pleased with our team's effort tonight for the full 40 minutes," CWU Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "Our team effort and intensity didn't wavier throughout the course of the game."
 
The first quarter had a hot start to it with the two teams scoring a combined 37 points. CWU found itself down 12-6 with 4:02 to play in the first, but pace soon picked up for the Crimson and Black.
 
The Wildcats got back within two, 12-10, on a contended layup from Samantha Bowman. The Seawolves looked to stay in front and did for the majority of the final minutes. Brianna Phiakhamngon nailed a long triple with 1:13 to play to keep the Wildcats within one, 19-18, going into the second.
 
CWU's first and only lead of the first half came in the early going of the second when Taylor Shaw nailed a pair of free throws to make a 20-19 game. The lead was short lived as UAA strung together a 7-0 run to go up by six, 26-20, before CWU scored again.
 
The run was a long one as the Wildcats took the lead with 8:39 to play in the second but did not score again until the 4:39 mark. Tori Maeda hit a three-pointer to cut the CWU deficit to three, 26-23. Another 6-0 Seawolf run made it 32-23 with 3:05 to play in the half.
 
Kassidy Malcolm scored the final bucket of the first half with will over 2:30 to play. Both squads continued the high tempo pace on offense but neither managed to find the bottom of the net and it remained 32-25 going into the break.
 
The first half fell slightly in the favor of the Seawolves who shot 45.2%, while CWU was not far behind at 45%. UAA managed to create its seven-point lead in going into the break on the merit of 18 points in the point, while CWU managed just six.
 
The Seawolves scored five quick points in the opening minutes of the third to grab a 12-point advantage, 37-25. JonNae Richardson answered for CWU with a triple of her to get the score within nine, 37-28.
 
CWU looked to get back within a possession game in the third but each time UAA had answer to stay out by just over 10 points for much of the frame. The Wildcats last touched a single-digit deficit with 3:12 to play in third when Bowman hit a layup to make it 43-34.
 
Bowman scored the final two points in the third for the Crimson and Black and had the first seven of the fourth to claw the Wildcats back into the game. Her fight down low in the paint led the Wildcats charge as they cut the Seawolves' lead to six, 52-46, with 6:23 to play in the game.
 
Kaelie Flores hit a pair of free throws nearly one minute later and CWU was down by just four, 52-48, to No. 7 UAA. The Seawolves responded scoring nine unanswered and pushed their lead back to double figures, 61-48, before the Wildcats scored again.

"There was a point in the third we were down 14 points but our team stayed the course, trusted and responded and brought the game back to a four-point game with six minutes to go in the fourth," Coach Richardson-Thornley noted. "Credit to UAA as they responded at that point with some big threes, offensive boards, and free throws. That really put the game out of reach. But our group took a step in the right direction tonight in response to a tough week last week and that's what we needed."
 
The UAA scoring surge proved to be too much down the stretch as the Wildcats managed just three points in the final 2:10 of play and ultimately fell by 18 points. UAA shot 40% in the second half and held CWU to 30.4% shooting in that span.
 
In her first game off the bench, Bowman once again was the Wildcats leading scorer with 14 points. She had a near double-double night as she also grabbed nine rebounds to go along with two blocks. No other Wildcat scored in double digits.
 
Phiakhamngon was the second leading scorer with eight points on 3-9 shooting to go along with five boards. Malcolm and Shaw each added seven points, respectively. Malcolm also had five rebounds, while Shaw blocked two shots.

For the game, CWU shot just 37.2% for the game overall and was 31.8% from three-point range. The Wildcats finished 12-16 from the charity stripe for 75% and had the overall edge in rebounds over the Seawolves, 36-29.
 
CWU will remain in Alaska as they will take on University Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, Jan. 11. Tip-off against the Nanooks is set for 1 p.m. PT on Alaska Airlines Court in Fairbanks.