Box Score Box Score
ELLENSBURG, Wash. – A career-high 27 points from Central Washington's Alisha Love sparked the Wildcats to an 81-71 victory over visiting Montana State Billings Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Yellowjackets fell to 7-8 overall and 3-4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. CWU improved to 6-8 overall and 1-6 in conference play.
“It was a difficult loss today,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “I thought we'd respond and play a little bit better. We did a lot of things well as we protected the ball well and had a season-low eight turnovers. We didn't shoot the ball well today. We had a lot of open looks and they wouldn't go down.”
MSUB was led by 13 points from seniors Beata Bak and Sarah McNamee. Senior Jenny Heringer chipped in 11 points. MSUB struggled shooting the ball as it was 26 of 75 from the field fir 34.7 percent. The Jackets were 6 of 29 from beyond the arc and 13 of 16 from the line.
Senior Kayla Ryan scored seven points and is just five points away from 1,000 career points as the Jackets head home to host Western Oregon Thurs., Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
Love went 7 of 11 from the field for the home team, 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and 11 of 14 from the line for 27 points to lead all-scorers. Sophie Russell chipped in 13 points with a game-high three triples as the only other Wildcat player in double figures.
CWU shot 43.6 percent from the field on 24 of 55 from the floor. The Wildcats were 10 of 25 from beyond the arc and 23 of 28 from the line.
The Jackets also struggled on the boards as they were outrebounded 50-35 by CWU. MSUB also was outrebounded Thursday in a 75-62 loss at Northwest Nazarene 51-35.
“As far as the rebounds go, it was due in part to our missed shots, and we didn't shoot the ball from beyond the arc,” Woodin added. “They made 10, 3's and we missed a lot of open shots.”
After the Wildcats jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, the Yellowjackets battled back courtesy of senior Beata Bak with a triple and a jumper in the paint for an 11-10 lead with 14:04 left in the first half.
The lead was short lived as back-to-back triples by Nneka Payne and Deaira Gordon put the Wildcats up 18-11, but the Jackets countered with a triple from senior Sarah McNamee moments later to cut it to 18-14 with 11:07 left in the half. Two free throws out of a media timeout and a fast-break layup by McNamee erased the deficit and tied the score at 18 with 9:48 left.
Triples from Love and Russell gave CWU its largest lead at 37-30 with 1:06 left in the half. The Yellowjackets pulled within 31-30 on three free throws from sophomore Ashley Reed prior to the triples.
The Jackets pulled to within three in the final minute as Ryan scored on a jumper, followed by a steal from McNamee and layup from senior Shantell Marquis for a 37-34 at intermission.
The Jackets shot 39.4 percent from the field in the opening half on 13 of 33. They were 3 of 8 from beyond the arc and 5 of 7 from the line. Conversely, CWU was 14 of 33 for 42.4 percent from the field, 5 of 14 from range and 4 of 4 from the line. CWU held a 22-18 lead in rebounding, while the Wildcats committed eight first half miscues to six for the Jackets.
“Both teams played very hard in the first half and it was close throughout,” Woodin added. “I felt good about where we were at half and we scored the final four points of the half to close within three points.”
Triples from Love and Luv Rattler put the Wildcats up 43-36 in the early moments of the second half, but a steal and triple from freshman Bobbi Knudsen kept the Yellowjackets within striking distance at 43-39 with 17:59 left. Knudsen followed with a layup moments later for a 45-41 deficit.
“You have to give Central a lot of credit as they made the first push of the second half and got us down,” Woodin said.
Two free throws by Love and a jumper from Amber Moser put the Wildcats back up five at 57-52 with 11:14 left. CWU swelled the lead to 60-52 on a triple from Sophie Russell with 10:26 left. Russell hit another triple for a 10-0 run and a 63-52 lead.
The Wildcats continued their hot play from beyond the arc with another triple and two free throws for a 68-53 lead with 7:10 left. CWU increased its run to 15-1.
A triple from McNamee out of a media timeout ended a 5:10 drought and brought the Yellowjackets to within 68-56 with 6:50 left. A jumper off an offensive rebound by Lisa Laslovich pulled the Jackets two within 68-58 with 5:21 remaining.
Out of a media timeout the Yellowjackets continued to fight as senior Jenny Heringer hit a triple followed by a steal by Knudsen and a layup cut the CWU lead in half at 70-65 with 3:16 left. The Jackets countered the CWU run with a 12-2 run of their own to get back into the game.
“Over the last four minutes we regrouped and made a nice little run getting it down to 5 or 6,” Woodin said. “We had an open look to get it to a one possession game. At the end we had to foul and hope and they made some crucial free throws. They are a talented team and they are better than their record indicates and we knew that.”
Two free throws by Heringer and a steal and jumper by Marquis brought the Yellowjackets to within 75-71 with 1:09 left.
The Wildcats iced the game at the free throw line down the stretch as they went 11 of 14 in the final five minutes. CWU didn't make a field goal in the final 4:47 and the Jackets went without a field goal in the final 1:09 for an 81-71 final score.
