ELLENSBURG –
Jessica Jones,
Georgia Swant, and
Jessica Wisotzki all scored in double figures but that wasn't enough as Simon Fraser University fell 92-69 to Central Washington University, snapping a two-game winning streak Thursday at the Nicholson Pavilion.
SFU surrendered a season-high 92 points in the loss, and dropped to 4-6 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, 8-11 overall. Central Washington is now 9-3 in conference play and 16-5 overall.
Central leads the GNAC in scoring averaging 72.9 points per game and the 'Cats also lead the GNAC averaging 8.8 three-point field goals per game. Central Washington connected on 14 of 33 threes (42.4%) against SFU.
Simon Fraser trailed by nine points, 60-51, entering the fourth quarter but the Wildcats exploded for 32 points in the fourth, beginning with a 10-2 run to start the quarter, and ran away with the victory.
Jones led SFU with 17 points on 7-of-15 field goal shooting and Wisotzki, who is sixth in the conference in scoring and sixth in three-point shooting, chipped in with 11 points. She made 1-of-2 three-pointers. Swant scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
SFU scored 30 points in the paint and 11 points on fast breaks. The Wildcats out-rebounded SFU 50 to 32. Kassidy Malcolm scored 27 points to lead the Wildcats, who had five players reach double figures in scoring.
SFU led 23-22 after the first quarter but trailed 43-32 at the half. SFU outscored the Wildcats 19-17 in the third quarter but still trailed by nine points. Central Washington went on a 10-2 run to open the fourth-quarter to put the game away.
Next game for SFU is Saturday against Northwest Nazarene in Idaho. Game time is 6:30 PM. SFU returns home for three games next week February 15 (Northwest Nazarene), February 17 (Alaska Anchorage) and February 19 (Alaska Fairbanks).
Arman Dulai
