ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University women's basketball hosted No. 8 Alaska Anchorage on Saturday evening. A late surge from the Seawolves pushed them past the Wildcats 67-59 inside Nicholson Pavilion. 
 
The matchup between the Wildcats (13-9, 8-6 GNAC) and Sewolves (23-2, 11-1 GNAC) came down to execution at the end of both halves. A six-minute drought in the second hindered the Wildcats from maintaining a 22-15 lead they had earned at the end of the first quarter. Then in the fourth, the visitors shot 41.7% from the field while the Wildcats mustered a 29.4% performance. 
 
"I'm proud of our team's effort," CWU Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "I think we competed well tonight. Anchorage executed better in the fourth than we did. Credit to them for executing down the stretch when they needed to. I'm proud of our girls for how they competed and responded to Anchorage's runs. There was appoint where were down 12 or so and we brought the game back to a couple possessions." 
 
The Wildcats had the quick start to the game jumping out to an 8-2 lead over the Seawolves. UAA got back within one possession, 10-7, before the Wildcats pushed the lead back to seven, 14-7, with just under 4:30 to play in the quarter.
 
The Wildcats had a solid start to the game shooting 9-14 from the floor in the first for 64.3%. The Seawolves were just 7-18 for 38.9% and trailed 22-15. Alexis Pana had eight points in the opening frame to pace the Crimson and Black.
 
The Seawolves scored eight points in the first 3:30 of play, while the Wildcats had just five to cut the CWU lead to four, 27-23. The Wildcats struggled from deep to start the second going 0-2, while UAA was 2-2 to get back into the game.
 
Shooting continued to plague the Wildcats as the frame went on. The Seawolves slowly chipped away at the lead until a pair of free throws got them up 28-27. They grew their lead to 31-27 where it remained for much of the half. A Kassidy Malcolm jumper late in the quarter ended a near six-minute drought for the Wildcats with just over 60 seconds to play in the half.
 
The Wildcats managed to cut the Seawolves lead to just one, 33-32, right before halftime. Brianna Phiakhamngon put up a triple that missed but an offensive board by Samantha Bowman led to a second chance shot that Pana nailed.
 
Despite a near six-minute drought in the latter half of the second, the Wildcats managed to hold the eighth-ranked team in Division II from opening up the game. CWU shot 36.4% (4-11) in the second, while UAA went 6-12 for 50%. The Wildcats shot 52% for the half on 13-25 shooting and held the Seawolves to 43.3%. 
 
The Seawolves led the way in every statistical category except overall shooting and three-point shooting. The Wildcats went 5-12 from deep, while UAA was just 3-6. The fast start by CWU with 22 first quarter points kept them in the game.
 
The start of the third belonged to UAA who started the half with an 8-0 run to push the lead to 40-32. Kaelie Flores ended the Wildcats near three-minute drought with a deep three to make it a 42-35 game with just over seven minutes to play in the third.
 
Midway through the third, UAA led 46-40 despite a surge from the Wildcats. The Wildcats were shooting 50% at the 5:00 mark of the frame but were just 2-4, while the Seawolves were 5-7 for 71.4%. A triple out of the timeout by UAA made it a 49-40 game.
 
Despite the early struggles, CWU found a rhythm in final minutes of the third and trailed by just five, 52-47, after three. The Seawolves managed to outscore Central 19-15 in the third thanks to the help of 7-14 shooting for 50%. The Wildcats went 4-9 for 44.4% to keep their deficit at single digits.
 
Once again, it was the Seawolves who owned the start to a quarter as they put together an 8-2 scoring run to lead 60-49 with 7:37 to play in regulation. CWU called a quick timeout to potentially stopped the bleeding but it did not work. 
 
The Seawolves managed to lead by 11 at point late in the fourth before five unanswered points by the Wildcats cut the UAA lead six, 65-59, with 1:26 to play in regulation. They Seawolves would hold on to pick up the road win. 

Pana led the way scoring 16 points, followed Malcolm with 15 points. Malcolm also led the way in rebounds pulling down eight. Flores added 14 points to round out the double-digit scoring. She also had six rebounds for the game. 
 
"We're still improving and taking steps forward as a group," Coach Richardson-Thornley said. "We didn't get the result we wanted tonight, but I think we're still getting better. We took a step forward in preparing for next week which is another big week." 

The Wildcats will hit the road for a pair of games next week. They get the short trip started on Thursday, Feb. 13 when they head north to Canada to battle Simon Fraser (B.C.). Tip-off against SFU is set for 7 p.m. in Burnaby.