Shariah Green
Amanda Loman
70
Winner Central Wash. CWU 11-7, 6-4 GNAC
50
Western Ore. WOU 5-12, 2-8 GNAC
Winner
Central Wash. CWU
11-7, 6-4 GNAC
70
Final
50
Western Ore. WOU
5-12, 2-8 GNAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Central Wash. CWU 22 14 22 12 70
Western Ore. WOU 13 10 13 14 50

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Brian Kortz

Wildcats use pair of big quarters to get past women’s basketball

MONMOUTH, Ore. -- Backed by a pair of 22-point first and third quarters, Central Washington University was able to hold off the Western Oregon University women's basketball team, 70-50, Saturday afternoon in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"Central is tough team with a lot of offensive weapons.  They share the ball extremely well and had us chasing most of the night.  I thought we played hard and had some great defensive possessions but we need to be better on the glass.  Offensively we have to be able to make the makeables and work harder off the ball to create even better shots," head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said.

As it turned out, not only did Central Washington (11-7, 6-4 GNAC) score 22 points in the first and third quarters, but they held Western Oregon (5-12, 2-8 GNAC) to 13 points in each of those quarters to use a 44-26 edge that would carry the Wildcats to the victory.

While shooting certainly helped set-up Central Washington connecting on 26-53 (49) from the field, along with six three-pointers, but the rebounds were a big story as CWU held a 42-20 advantage on the glass. Overall from the field the Wildcats went 6-21 (29) from three and 12-17 (71) at the charity stripe.

WOU ended up connecting on 19-56 (34) from the field, 4-18 (22) from three and 8-10 (80) at the foul line. The Wolves shot well in the second half, going 6-12 in the third quarter and 5-15 in the fourth to finish the final 20 minutes making 11-27 (41). 

Shariah Green started the game strong for WOU when she connected on a top-of-the-key three-pointer 22 seconds in for the early 3-0 lead. Green then setup Amber Winkler in the paint a minute later for a layup to push the Wolves back in front. Following baskets from Keyonna Jones and Alexis Wright kept the Central Washington lead at two, the Wildcats closed the final two minutes of the first frame on a 9-2 run to push out to a 22-13 lead.

Both teams struggled to score throughout the first part of the second quarter as the Wildcats tallied three points before a jumper by Tresai McCarver just over four minutes into the quarter marked the first points for WOU. The lead remained in double-digits the rest of the half with Central Washington taking a 36-23 lead into the break.

The Wildcats rushed out of the locker rooms on a 9-0 burst to open up a 22-point lead. WOU shot 50 percent in the third quarter to limit the deficit, with Green and Jones scoring before the end of the frame leaving CWU with a 58-36 lead entering the final quarter. The Wildcats countered the strong shooting from WOU in the third by hitting over 54 percent from the field. They also utilized the foul line making 7-9 in the quarter.

WOU finished the game strong outscoring the Wildcats 14-12 over the final 10 minutes with Green, McCarver, Meadow Aragon, Rachel Rogers, Cali McClave and Alexis Wright adding points in the quarter.

Jones and Green led the way for the Wolves scoring 12 points apiece, while Green added five rebounds. Four players added five points in McClave, Winkler, Rogers and Wright. Four players reached double-figures in scoring to lead the Wildcats with Kalie Flores tallying a game-high 15 points, while pulling down seven rebounds. Samantha Bowman added 12 points, Kassidy Malcolm put together a strong double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds, while Taylor Shaw rounded out the four in double-figures with 10 points. Alexis Pana just missed a double-double with nine points and seven rebounds.

While WOU kept it close in terms of points off turnovers (CWU, 17-16), second-chance points (CWU, 6-4), the Wildcats held a big advantage on points in the paint (40-26) and bench points (25-12).

"With the first round (of conference play) done, we need to reevaluate and take every opportunity to get better as a team," Howard-Carpenter added.

WOU will hit the road this coming week as they will play at Simon Fraser on Thursday starting at 7 p.m., before closing the trip on Saturday at Western Washington, also set to start at 7 p.m.
 
 
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