Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
ELLENSBURG, Wash. – A cold fourth quarter meant no eighth straight win.
 
Alexis Pana scored on a lay-in with 2.5 seconds left on Thursday night, and Central Washington capped a comeback from a 13-point third-quarter deficit on Thursday night to beat Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game, 70-68.
 
The result in Nicholson Pavilion snapped a seven-game winning streak for SPU (16-4, 10-3 GNAC). That run began with a 62-43 victory against the Wildcats on Jan. 6 in Seattle. Central (13-8, 9-4 GNAC) won its fifth in row.
 
The Falcons got off just eight shots during the final 10 minutes of Thursday's game, and were kept without a field goal for a span of 6 minutes, 31 seconds.
 
Central hit 8 of its 12 fourth-quarter shots, none of them bigger than Pana's game-winner.

 

"I give credit to Central – they made plays," Falcons head coach Julie Heisey said. "We had a 13-point lead, they hit two deep 3s (both by Pana in the third quarter), we fouled, and we lost momentum that way.
 
"But every time we've had losses, we've gone on winning runs. We have to learn from this and get better," she added. "We want to be the best team in March. If this is what it takes, we're going to learn."
 
With the game tied 68-68 after Jordan McPhee hit one of her two free throws at the 18.6 second mark, the Wildcats (13-8, 9-4 GNAC) called timeout and advanced the ball to frontcourt. Pana took the inbounds pass, dribbled several second off the clock on the left side of the lane, then drove toward the hoop and scooped it in with 2.5 seconds to go.
 
Seattle Pacific called timeout and advanced the ball to its frontcourt. Courtney Hollander inbounded, but a Central defender deflected the ball, and time expired before anyone could regain possession.
 
 

Senior forward Hollander led the Falcons with 17 points. McPhee finished with 15, and Haining had 10 to go along with a team-high nine rebounds.
 
Down 35-31 at the outset of the third quarter, the Falcons went on a 13-0 to take a 44-35 advantage. It grew to 13 at 50-37 when Pana rang up seven straight points on her own – back-to-back 3-pointers, the second of which she turned into a four-point play as she was fouled while draining the shot.
 
Central Washington finally tied the game at 59-59 with 5:10 left, as SPU struggled to find the basket. After a Hollander shot from the right corner with 7:19 remaining, the only points for the Falcons during that 6 ½-minute field goal drought were seven free throws before Rachel Shim hit a lay-in at 48.1 seconds left to put them back on top, 67-66.
 
Pana hit one free throw to tie it at 67-67 with 32 seconds remaining. Kaelie Flores drained another at 29.8 seconds for a 68-67 Central Washington lead.
 
McPhee was fouled at the 18.6-second mark. The first one went in for a 68-68 tie, but the second rimmed off. The Wildcats rebounded, and called the timeout that ultimately led to Pana's winning shot.
 
"The second quarter, Erica Pagano came in and gave us a huge life, and Courtney and Rachel hit shots," Heisey said. "We came out in the third quarter and did great. …We did a lot of good things tonight. But you give up two 3s back-to-back to the same person – and they were from downtown. All of sudden, you've lost flow and given them hope. That's one thing we have to get better at."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
--Central Washington shot a staggering 58 percent for the game, hitting 29 of 50, hitting better than 60 percent in each of the second, third, and fourth quarters. Pana, coming off the bench, finished with a game-high 19 points.
-- SPU hit 25 of 57 (43.9 percent) for the game.
--McPhee's 15 points put her at 986 for her career. Hollander's 17 give her 977.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons play the last of four straight games on the road when they visit Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho. Tip-off is at 4:15 p.m. The Nighthawks escaped from Brougham Pavilion with a 58-57 victory on January 4.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Feb.1, 2018
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
Central Washington 70, Seattle Pacific 68
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-4, 8-3 GNAC)
Jordan McPhee 3-10 8-10 15, Courtney Hollander 5-12 5-8 17, Julia Haining 5-7 0-0 10, Rachel Shim 4-12 0-1 9, Lindsay Lee 3-4 0-0 7, Riley Evans 2-4 0-0 4, Jaylee Albert 0-2 0-0 0, Erica Pagano 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 25-57 13-19 68.
 
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (13-8, 9-4 GNAC)
Sadie Mensing 4-4 2-2 11, Rachel Lorentson 6-7 0-0 15, Taylor Baird 3-5 0-0 6, Jasmin Edwards 1-8 0-0 2, Beverly Verduin 1-3 0-0 2, Alexis Pana 7-11 2-3 19, Kaelie Flores 7-10 1-2 15, Taylor Shaw 0-2 0-0 0, Kassidy Malcolm 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-50 5-7 70.
 
Seattle Pacific                     15           16           25           12           -- 68
Central Washington           15           17           19           19           -- 70
 
3-point goals – SPU 5-18 (McPhee 1-3, Hollander 2-6, Shim 1-3, Lee 1-1, Evans 0-2, Albert 0-2, Pagano 0-1), CWU 7-14 (Mensing 1-1, Lorentson 3-4, Edwards 0-2, Verduin 0-1, Pana 3-4, Pana 0-2). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 32 (Haining 9), CWU 25 (Flore 8). Assists – SPU 15 (Shim 4), CWU 16 (Edwards 4). Turnovers – SPU 14, CWU 16. Total fouls – SPU 12, CWU 16. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 1,461.