Women's Basketball | 2/22/2011 7:01:53 PM

Box Score [Box score]

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The Western Oregon women's basketball scored 46 points in the second half, running away with a 64-50 victory over host Central Washington in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action Tuesday.

The Wolves (10-15, 8-9 GNAC) hit nearly 60 percent of their shots in the second half, making 15 of 26 attempts. Senior guard Sara Zahler and senior forward Danielle Bellando combined to score 26 of Western's second-half points.

Central Washington (7-17, 2-15 GNAC) could not get anything going. The Wildcats shot 26.6 percent on the night, connecting on three of 22 three-point tries.

Zahler led all scorers with 21 points on six of ten shooting. She also added six rebounds and four steals. In her second straight start, Bellando registered 12 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Lorrie Clifford stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, eight boards, and six assists. Junior forward Rylee Peterson grabbed a team-high ten rebounds.

"It was a total team effort tonight," WOU head coach Greg Bruce said. "Everyone chipped in. Rylee's rebounds were huge, Lorrie played a very nice game, and Danielle and Sara hit some shots. It was nice to see everyone contribute."

Central took a 23-20 lead early in the second half but a quick 7-0 run gave Western a four-point lead it would never relinquish. The Wildcats pulled to within three points twice in the second half, the last time coming at the 10:26 mark. WOU responded with a 9-0 run, going up 47-35. The Wolves would lead by as many as 16 points in the second half.

The game was tied 18-18 at halftime. Junior guard Dijana Topalovic scored WOU's last six points on two treys.

The game was full of accomplishments for the Wolves. The victory gave WOU its second consecutive ten-win season. It was the eighth GNAC victory for Western, the most since 2002-03. It was also the team's fourth conference road victory, the first time WOU has won four road GNAC games in the program's history. The win gave the Wolves a season sweep over CWU, giving Western three series sweeps on the season, the most since 2002-03.

Central Washington was led by guard Alisa Love's 18 points. Forward Stacy Albrecht added ten points and ten rebounds.

Western will conclude its regular season Thursday with a game at Northwest Nazarene. Game time is set for 4:15 pm PST.