BY CHANCE WEEKS-WILLIAMS
Staff Reporter
The Central Washington University women’s basketball team took to the road for the last two games butcame up empty as they fell 68-47 to the Falcons of Seattle Pacific lastThursday, and then again lost to Montana State Billings 60-39 on Saturday.
This gives the Wildcats 17 losses this season, and increases the losing streak to nine games.
Against Seattle Pacific, the game was close in the first half as the Wildcats were only down by six points going into halftime. In the second half, the Falcons took charge as they outscored Central 41-28.
Junior forward Courtney Johnson led the Wildcats in scoring with 12 points and contributed three rebounds as well. Sophomore center Jasmine Parker was 100 percent from the field and finished with eight points and three rebounds.
Senior guard Jessica VanDyke played the first four minutes of the game but was unable to finish with a knee injury, which is speculated to be a torn meniscus.
“Get healthy,” VanDyke said when asked what she can do for the team. She said she has limited range of motion in her knee and it is sore.
The Wildcats grabbed 35 total rebounds, while senior center Amber Moser led the team with seven.entral also had a solid 3-point percentage, making 30 percent of its shots.
“We got to run the floor,” Moser said. “We got to keep our energy up for both halves.”
Seattle Pacific’s Katie Benson was the game’s top scorer with 20 points and eight rebounds. In the paint is where Seattle Pacific did most of its damage. The Falcons had 28 points in the paint while the Wildcats only had 10. Seattle Pacific also capitalized off of 19 Central turnovers, scoring 26 points off of turnovers.
“We really shouldn’t be turning the ball over, it’s just decision making,” head coach Shawn Nelson said On Saturday, the Wildcats traveled back east and played the top-ranked team in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Montana State Billings, at 20-5 overall and 12-2 in GNAC play.
This game was closer than the score would indicate as Central and Billings were tied up at 21 points going into halftime. In the second half the Yellowjackets really earned their stripes, outscoring the Wildcats 39- 18.
“I think both teams played really well defensively in the first half,” Nelson said. “We continued to have a hard time scoring in the second half.”
Moser and sophomore center Jasmine Parker scored in the double digits (Moser with 10, Parker 11) and each had a block while Moser finished with five rebounds and Parker had a team leading seven rebounds. Senior guard Ally Schmidt and junior forward Courtney Johnson combined for 12 points.
The Wildcats did not help themselves by missing the majority of their free throws. They shot 30 percent from the free throw line, while Billings was 81 percent.
On Billings, guard Bobbi Knudsen led everyone in scoring, finishing with 18 points, six assists, and a steal. Three other Billings players scored eight points (Bannis, Olson , Kumm). As a team the Yellowjackets were able to force 13 Wildcat turnovers, and out rebounded the Wildcats 43-28.
The Wildcats will finish up their last road game as they head to Nampa Idaho, to face off against the Crusaders of Northwest Nazarene
