Although Central’s women’s basketball team was knocked out in the first round of the GNAC tournament last Thursday, this year was the team’s best season in nearly a decade.

The Wildcats, 17-12 overall and 10-10 in conference play, had their first winning record since the 2006-07 season, when they went 17-10 overall.

The team will graduate four seniors this year—three of them are post players—but Central will return a strong backcourt highlighted by the last two GNAC Freshman of the Year, sophomore Jasmin Edwards and freshman Mandy Steward.

Here are three highs and lows of the 2015-16 season:

High No. 1: Invading Viking territory

For the first time since 2008, the Wildcats beat rival Western Washington University on the road.

Central’s top players came up big when it mattered as Edwards had 20 points and 6 assists and senior forward Jasmine Parker had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 assists.

Parker’s “energy in the huddle, the things she’s brought to the team, the things she said on and off the floor, on the bench and in the huddle really willed her team to win that game,” head coach Jeff Harada said after the game. “She wasn’t gonna let her team lose that game.”

The win marked the first win over the Vikings for Central’s senior class.

“In the locker room [after the game, Parker and I] kind of stare at each other, and we just both break down crying because it was so emotional,” senior forward India Matheson said in an interview about her teammate.

Low No. 1: Wildcats drop five straight down the stretch

Central’s women looked as if they were ready to battle it out with the top of the conference after a five-game winning streak had the team at 8-4 in GNAC play.

The team would go on to lose five-straight games in an important stretch of the season, which dropped the team to 8-9 in conference play.

Though the Wildcats dropped the first four games of the stretch to teams that would make the GNAC Tournament, the losing-streak was capped with a two-point loss at home to a Concordia University (CU) team that went 6-22 on the season.

High No. 2: Wildcats win five straight

The Wildcats catapulted themselves into the thick of the GNAC race in late January when they rode  a five-game winning streak into the month of February.

They gave up just 47 points per game during the stretch and outscored opponents by an average of 16.2 points per game.

The stretch was highlighted by a couple of standout performances.

Against CU, Parker scored 27 points to go with 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Steward notched her first 20-point game as a Wildcat and added five steals while coming off the bench against Seattle Pacific University.

Low No. 2: Alaska Anchorage handles Central

Coming off one of the program’s biggest wins in a decade, the women had a chance to put themselves on the Division II basketball map.

The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) came into Nicholson Pavilion ranked second in the nation and showed the Wildcats why.

“They’re just physical. They play the passing games well, they read it well, they have guards with really quick hands, they really take passing lanes away,” Harada said after the game.

Central was only able to score five points in the first quarter.

Parker and Edwards were held to just eight points combined on 2-of-14 shooting.

Low No. 3: Wildcats go home on first day of conference tournament

Central entered the GNAC Tournament seeded fifth and needed to take home a tournament title to make the NCAA Division II West Regional.

Central battled in a close game and they went into the half tied, but the Wildcats couldn’t outshoot Simon Fraser University, the GNAC’s leader in 3-point shooting.

The Clan shot 9-of-17 from the three while Central was only able to hit 5-of-21 opportunities.

High No.3: Seniors leave on a high-note

Central finished the regular season by beating Montana State University Billings (MSUB) 69-55 on senior night.

The win ended the Yellow Jackets hope at getting the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the GNAC Tournament.

The seniors combined for 38 points, 14 rebounds and 6 steals against an MSUB team that made it to the NCAA Division II West Regional.

It was the program’s first win on senior night since 2012.