ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Western Oregon University women's basketball team was back to within two points of Central Washington entering halftime. The Wildcats used a big surge in the third quarter that extended into the fourth as Central Washington took the 74-55 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory Saturday inside Nicholson Pavilion.
"We played solid and really executed our game plan for the first twenty-five minutes. Central has three of the most talented players in the conference and I thought we did a fairly good job defending them, especially Samantha Bowman. They caught fire at the end of the third and we just struggled to score," head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said.
Ten players scored at least two points for the Wolves (7-7, 3-4 GNAC) led by Tresai McCarver's 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Meadow Aragon, in her return to the lineup, tallied eight points, six rebounds and a block. Madisyn Clark also scored eight points. Princy Paaluhi-Caulk collected six points, while Amber Winkler, Alexis Wright and Casandra White all scored five points. Winkler tallied five rebounds and four blocks. Wright added six rebounds.
WOU started strong scoring the first six points of the game. Clark hit a free throw to start the scoring a minute in and after Cali McClave hit a three-pointer, Winkler capped the run with a jumper at the 7:39 mark.
Central Washington (11-4, 4-2 GNAC) came back with a 12-2 run to grab a 12-8 lead near the midway point of the quarter. Kaelin Williams-Kennedy helped the Wolves pull back to within two late in first quarter with a triple before the Wildcats closed the scoring over the first 10 minutes with a layup for the 19-15 lead.
CWU pushed the lead out to 10 a few minutes into the second quarter, but the Wolves fought back. McCarver hit a three-pointer and Aragon added a layup to cut the deficit to five. After the Wildcats pushed the lead back out to seven, WOU closed the first half strong. McCarver scored the final five points of the half hitting a triple and then a jumper right before the buzzer sounded to leave CWU with a 31-29 lead at the break.
Winkler began the second half strong hitting a three-pointer a minute in to trim the deficit to one. Following an offensive rebound and putback by Wright tied the game at 34, Central Washington went on a 11-0 run to take a 45-34 lead.
WOU got back to within nine on a layup by Wright before CWU closed the third quarter on an 8-3 run to take a 53-39 lead into the final frame.
The Wildcats then put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter using an 11-0 run to take the victory.
Kassidy Malcolm paced the Wildcats with 22 points, while Kizzah Maltezo added 18 points and Valerie Huerta with 10 points. Samantha Bowman was limited to just six points, but added 14 rebounds and three blocks.
WOU went 23-70 (32.9) from the field, 7-25 (28) from three and 2-6 (33.3) at the foul line. WOU held the edge on points off turnovers (16-14), second chance points (9-4) and bench points (24-12).
CWU went 29-61 (47.5) from the field, 13-30 (43.3) from three and 3-6 (50) at the foul line. The Wildcats held a 30-20 advantage on points in the paint.
"I'm proud of how we came out from the tip and for how we fought when things weren't going our way. We took care of the ball better tonight and got on the glass, we just have to find a way to convert on those extra opportunities," Howard-Carpenter said.
The Wolves now return home to host Simon Fraser this coming Thursday starting at 7 p.m. inside New PE Gym. WOU will also host nationally-ranked Western Washington on Saturday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m.
