ELLENSBURG, Wash. --- The Western Oregon women's basketball team rallied from a 21-point, third-quarter deficit to get within four of Central Washington with less than two minutes left - but fell short and lost 64-56 Thursday night at Nicholson Arena.

The Wolves (8-15 overall, 4-11 GNAC) trailed the Wildcats (19-6, 12-4) 47-26 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter before a 17-2 run that included by seven straight points by Ciona Wells to start the fourth quarter made it 49-43 with 6:15 remaining following a Natalie Brown bucket.

CWU pushed the lead back to 11 points with under four minutes left before a 7-0 WOU run capped by a three-point play from Brown made it 58-54 with 2:06 left. But the Wildcats scored the next six points to eventually come away with the win.

Bella Pedrojetti pace WOU with 17 points to go along with five rebounds. Brown had 11 points, six rebounds and four steals while Wells finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

WOU returns to action Saturday at Northwest Nazarene.