ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Western Oregon women's basketball team struggled to keep up with the perimeter shooting of Central Washington on Thursday night, falling 70-46 to the Wildcats at Nicholson Pavilion as they began their final road trip of the 2019-20 season.

Western Oregon (5-19, 2-15 GNAC) saw their losing streak slide to 11 games in the loss, shooting 34 percent from the field and just 12.5 percent from 3-point range on 16 attempts.

The Wolves were held to eight or fewer points in both the first and fourth quarters to open and close the game with large deficits. Central Washington (15-10, 10-7 GNAC) went on a 13-3 run to open the game on their way to a crucial win in their efforts to make the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. They led by 16 at the close of the first quarter.

Four players finished in double figures for the Wildcats, led by the 12 points of Taylor Shaw. In just 20 minutes of play, Shaw was able to also add on three rebounds and a steal.

Western Oregon did win the turnover battle, 15-16, nabbing nine steals along the way, but a cold shooting night from deep limited their ability to keep close during CWU rallies.

"Central came out on fire and we couldn't stop them at the rim or from the 3-point line," said Western Oregon head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter. "On top of that, we couldn't get anything going on the offensive end. We regrouped at half and made some defensive adjustments that helped us chip away. Our offensive execution was much better in the third and we were able to put together a little run."

After trailing by as many as 23 points in the second quarter, the Wolves made a push in the third to pull within 11 at the 2:55 mark of the period. It was by far the best shooting quarter of the night for WOU, hitting 69 percent of shots from the field on 9-for-13 shooting and going 1-for-3 from deep.

Shariah Green led the Wolves with 16 points in 22 minutes, pulling in a rebound, one assist and one steal. Tresai McCarver also finished in double digits, totaling 11 points with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Alexis Wright was efficient in her time off the bench, going 3-for-4 from the field to knock down a team-high six bench points.

"Central is a tough matchup because they can all shoot and go off the bounce while sharing the ball extremely well," added Howard-Carpenter. "Shariah had a solid night for us and Alexis came in and gave us great minutes."

Next up, the Wolves play their final road game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 22, when they visit the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks. Tipoff is set for 4:15 p.m. PST at Johnson Sports Center.