MONMOUTH, Ore. – Junior forward Savannah Heugly scored a career-high 18 points, but the Western Oregon women's basketball could not complete a comeback over the final three quarter in a 66-55 loss Saturday on Senior Night at the New P.E. Building.
 
The Wolves (7-18, 3-15 GNAC) drop their eighth straight game yet remain in 10^th place in the GNAC heading into the final week of the regular season.

How It Happened
After a back-and-forth battle early in the game, Central Washington (12-14, 7-11 GNAC) went on a 7-0 run to build a 15-9 advantage behind a strong performance from forward Taylor Baird. The CWU lead extended to as many as 12, 23-11, before Heugly's jumper late in the period cut the lead to 10 at the end of the quarter.
 
CWU kept the lead in double figures after a 3-pointer from Sadie Mensing with 4:32 in the second quarter. Sydney Azorr scored four points in a Western Oregon 8-0 run capped off by a Heugly lay-up in the final minute trimming the lead to three, 30-27. Central Washington hit their final two shots to own a 34-27 lead at halftime.
 
The Wolves started the third on a 7-2 run and trimmed the Wildcats lead to one, 40-39, on a triple from Azorr. CWU answered with five straight but another Azorr 3-pointer in the period allowed WOU to trail 46-42 going to the fourth.
 
Mensing assisted on an early bucket in the fourth quarter and scored four straight to put the Wildcats up eight, 55-47, at the 7:13 mark. A jump shot by Jasmine Miller put WOU down by five, but the Wildcats hit crucial shots and free throws down the stretch to hold on to the lead.
 
 Wolves' Top Performers

• Savannah Heugly went 8-of-17 from the field for her 18 points.
• Sydney Azorr had 16 points and four rebounds.
• Shelby Snook had nine assists and six rebounds.

 
For the Wildcats

• Taylor Baird had a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. She had four blocks in 31 minutes.
• Sadie Mensing finished with 13 points and Jasmin Edwards added 10 points.

 
Coach Quotes
WOU head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter after the loss:

• "We showed a lot of fight tonight and I'm bummed we didn't get the win for Launia.  We had a great 2nd and 3rd quarter but just couldn't get it to even.  We got some key stops down the stretch but then hurt ourselves with turnovers and giving them second chances."
• "Savannah and Syd fueled us tonight.  I'm so proud of how they played with poise and confidence.  They really helped give us a chance.  Ken had some huge buckets in the first half and got our energy going in to the half and I'm proud of how she came to play tonight." 

Up Next
The Wolves begin their final road trip of the season at Saint Martin's on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.