BOX SCORE

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Central Washington built a 19-point halftime lead and cruised to an 88-69 win over Dominican University of California on Saturday afternoon at Nicholson Pavilion, as both teams wrapped up the non-conference portion of their women's basketball schedules.

The Lady Penguins (3-8) trailed the Wildcats (3-7) for nearly the entire game on Saturday, with CWU taking their first lead with 18:03 to go in the first half and never trailing again. A 9-0 run midway through the opening period gave Central its first double-digit lead of the contest at 23-13 with 11:47 remaining, and the margin hit 20 in the closing seconds before halftime, at which time Dominican trailed by 19 points.

CWU scored the first four points of the second half to take the first of two 23-point leads in the game, but Dominican stormed back later in the half. The Lady Penguins converted on three three-pointers by Alisha Flaaten,  Tammy Brawner, and Kelsey Janusch over a two-minute span to cut the Wildcat lead to six at 66-60, but eight straight Central points and a drought of more than 3 1/2 minutes by Dominican pushed the margin back to 14 points. The Wildcats finished the game on a 10-4 run over the final 3:21 and held the Lady Penguins to just nine points over the final nine minutes to preserve the victory.

Flaaten had a game-high 24 points for Dominican. Brawner and Kimi Nakamura added nine points apiece in a losing effort for the Lady Penguins.

Four Wildcats scored in double figures, including 19 points from sophomore Sophie Russell. Russell also had four rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Senior Sara Bergner  finished with a career-high 17 points while adding eight rebounds and three steals, and junior Brittany Duerr came off the bench to score 16. Senior Shaina Afoa also posted her seventh career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lady Penguins now prepare for their first season of Division II play in the Pacific West Conference, which begins on Jan. 5 at home at the Conlan Center against Hawai'i Pacific University. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with the men's teams to follow at 7:30 p.m.