Women's Basketball | 12/4/2010 4:35:28 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Central Washington had no answer for Western Oregon senior guard Sara Zahler, as she continually found herself open en route to scoring a career-high 24 points, to lead Western Oregon to a 71-67 victory over Central Washington on Saturday, Dec. 4.

With the win, Western Oregon (3-4) moves into first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 2-0 for the first time since the 2001-02 season. The loss was the second straight for the Wildcats who dropped to 3-2 (0-2 GNAC).

Zahler connected on 7-of-11 shots from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range and from the free throw line. She helped the Wolves build a 20 point lead at halftime (48-28) by scoring 16 of her 24 points in the opening period.

That opening period was one of the best halves in the five-year tenure of head coach Greg Bruce. The Wolves hit 63.3 percent of their shots from the field and 75 percent from three-point range (6-of-8). They also outrebounded the Wildcats by five (18-13) and held them to a 34.5 shooting percentage.

It was that Wolves defense which fueled much of their offense in the first half. After falling behind 16-13, WOU relied on that defense to create an 11-2 run, which propelled the Wolves to a lead (24-18) that it would never relinquish. Western Oregon would build its 20 point lead at the midway point thanks to a 19-4 run to close out the half.

After the break, Central Washington came out with a new sense of desire as they would continue to fight back, eventually cutting the Wolves' lead from 20 to 7 at the 12:10 mark thanks to a 16-3 run. The Wildcats would continue to keep the pressure on as they cut the Wolves' lead all the way to two points (69-67) on a three-point basket by Sophie Russell. Zahler, however, had the answer for WOU as she got to the line and she sunk both free throws to lift the Wolves to the win.

Zahler was also helped in the scoring column by Rylee Peterson who had 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Jade Haas was a defensive spark plug with a team-high seven rebounds and four steals. Richardson added four steals as well.

Russell had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Central Washington. The Wildcats attempted 25 more shots from the field in the game but connected on just 35.6 percent of them, including 7-of-22 from behind the arc.

The Western Oregon women's basketball team will now take a week-long competition hiatus corresponding to Finals Week at the university. The Wolves will return to action next Saturday (Dec. 11) against Simpson at 1:00 p.m.