ELLENSBURG - Central Washington scored 11 of the final 14 points Saturday night to pull away from The Evergreen State College and take a 74-61 women's basketball exhibition victory at Nicholson Pavilion.
Brittany Gray hit a layup with 4:00 to play and pull the visiting Geoducks within five points, 63-58, after they had trailed by as many as 15 points earlier in the half. In crunch time, however, the host Wildcats made several big plays, including a pair of three-point field goals by Hannah Shine, to pick up the victory.
The first of Shine's treys, from deep in the left corner, gave Central a 69-59 lead with 2:44 left, and after Jasmine Parker scored a rebound basket, Shine buried a three from the right wing to make it a 74-59 game with 1:10 on the clock. Evergreen scored the game's final points on a pair of
Sadee Jones free throws with 3.1 seconds on the clock.
Central scored the game's first five points before Jones nailed a jump shot to get Evergreen on the scoreboard, and then the hosts played add on, taking their first double-digit lead at 20-10 with 8:26 left in the half. The Wildcats led 36-25 at the intermission.
After scoring just two points in the first 20 minutes, Gray took over for the Geoducks in the second half, going inside for baskets or getting to the foul line. She scored 12 of Evergreen's 18 points in one stretch, providing the impetus to a rally.
The Wildcats led 47-32 on a Jasmin Edwards layup about 5 1/2 minutes into the second half, but the Geoducks started whittling away at their deficit. A 14-5 scoring run, capped by Gray's layup, got the team within the aforementioned 63-58, but Evergreen's upset bid ended there.
Gray scored 16 of her team-high 18 points in the second half, while
Sadee Jones had nine of her 15 in the opening half.
LaNiecia Weatherspoon also got into double figures for the Geoducks with 14 points. Jones was a rebounding force with a game-high 12, while Gray added seven for the Geoducks, who enjoyed a 39-36 advantage in that category.
Evergreen finished the game shooting 35 percent (21-for-60) from the field and 71 percent (17-for-24) from the foul line.
Courtney Johnson led Central with a game-high 23 points, while Edwards added 15 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
With this game wrapping up the team's scrimmages and exhibitions, Evergreen returns to regular season action at 5 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts New Hope Christian College in CRC Gymnasium.
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