ELLENSBURG, Wash.—Shooting 53.6 percent from the floor in the first half, Central Washington University defeated Western Oregon University, 72-65, in GNAC women's basketball action on Tuesday afternoon.

Western Oregon (5-4, 1-2 GNAC) created a brief 4-2 lead on back-to-back Savannah Heugly jumpers, but Central Washington's (6-5, 2-1 GNAC) Kaelie Flores drained a 3-pointer for the home team's first lead while teammate Alexis Pana doubled up the Wolves with a 3-pointer of her own on the next possession.

WOU managed to stay within striking distance as a Natalie DeLonge layup put the score at 16-12 with 36 second left in the first, but holding WOU to just 12 points in the second quarter, Central Washington pulled away for a 16-point lead at the break.

Kennedy Corrigan launched a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half to move to within 11 points (41-30) and the Wolves continued to chip away at the CWU lead by outscoring the Wildcats in both of the final two quarters.

The Wolves outpaced CWU 23-15 in the final period before succumbing by the seven-point margin.

"We had some good moments tonight but struggled to put together four quarters," WOU head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said. "We were careless with the ball and lacked confidence on the offensive end and dug ourselves a hole. I thought we fought and gained some ground late in the first after getting down by ten but completely lost it in the second quarter."

Scoring 12 points in the second half, Heugly led WOU with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Knocking down 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, Corrigan finished with a career-high 19 points. Corrigan's previous high was 14 points against Northwest Nazarene last season.

Jasmin Edwards led CWU with 18 points and was followed by 15 from Pana. 

"Our defense was solid most of the night but especially in the third quarter but we just weren't able to take advantage when we turned them over or made them miss," Howard-Carpenter said. "Kennedy and Savannah led us in every way tonight. They competed hard and fought to keep it close.  I'm really proud of their play and their leadership."

Western Oregon will return to action on Dec. 30 when the team travels to face Northwest Nazarene University. Opening tip is set for 2 p.m. (MT) in Nampa, Idaho.