MONMOUTH, Ore.—Shooting 53.8 percent from 3-point territory, Central Washington University opened the calendar year with a 78-65 win at Western Oregon University in GNAC women's basketball action Thursday.
The Central Washington (7-3, 2-1 GNAC) duo of Alexis Pana and Kassidy Malcolm went 6-of-8 from deep in the first half and combined for 38 points for the road win.
"Central is a solid team and they knocked down shots tonight," said Western Oregon head coach
Holli Howard-Carpenter. "Their posts proved they can shoot the three and we didn't adjust to their hot hand."
Western Oregon (4-5, 1-2 GNAC) kept pace with the Wildcats for the bulk of the first half and held a 30-29 lead following a
Natalie DeLonge layup at the 4:34 mark in the second quarter.
The Wildcats, however, responded with a 14-3 to spree near the end of the half to create a 43-35 edge at the break. The run included four consecutive 3-pointers made, starting a run of deep shooting that CWU continued throughout the game. The 14 made threes, contributed by six different players, was the most for the Wildcats' program in six years.
"We lost focus at the end of the first half and didn't have answers until it was too late," said Howard-Carpenter. "Offensively we missed way too many easy shots and that hurt our chances of getting on a run. Although we only turned it over 13 times, there were some costly ones and Central made us pay."
DeLonge did the bulk of the offensive lifting for the Wolves with 12 first-half points, including a putback for the final points of the half to break the Wildcat run. Finishing with 14, the junior forward has scored in double figures in six of her eight appearances this season.
Early in the fourth quarter, Malcolm hit another jumper from past the arc to make it 71-53 and give CWU their largest lead of the game at an 18-point spread.
WOU's
Ronnie Harris scored a career-high with 9 points off the bench, adding on four rebounds and an assist.
Keyonna Jones and
Teresa Acock hit 3-pointers for WOU to cut into the deficit late in the contest, closing the gap to 10 with 2:40 left following a pair of Jones free throws.
Olivia Denton grabbed seven rebounds in the first half alone and finished tied for a career-best with nine boards and nine points.
Malcom scored a career-high 20 points to lead CWU to their first win in over a month.
"Outside of shooting, everything else was pretty even and I'm encouraged that we're sharing the ball as well as taking care of it," added Howard-Carpenter. "We have to refocus quick because we have an even bigger task ahead in NNU on Saturday. No time to hang heads."
The Wolves will remain at home this weekend when they host undefeated and No. 7-ranked Northwest Nazarene. Opening tip against the Nighthawks is set for 2 p.m. inside the New P.E. Gymnasium.
