NU's Katie Rozumny led the team in scoring tonight
CWU Wins Big Over Eagles in Exhibition
ELLENSBURG, Wash. – It proved to be a tough day getting to Ellensburg and even tougher once the game began as Northwest University dropped an exhibition game to Central Washington, 77-34, tonight.
It was tough going for the Eagle team driving over a snowy Snoqualmie Pass and being slowed due to the necessity to chain up the charter bus on the way to their destination.
Once the game started, Central Washington didn't waste any time jumping out to a 23-5 lead in the first twelve minutes of the game. NU would not hit double figures until the 4:48 mark when Katy Rozumny would drill a jumper making it 25-11. CWU would keep the scoring pressure on taking a 34-19 lead at halftime.
Northwest U's scoring drought would continue in the second half as the Wildcats from the NCAA Division II level would outscore the Eagles 22-5 to increase their lead to 56-24 with 31 seconds to go in the third quarter. Rozumny would score again for NU to make it 56-26 as the buzzer would sound.
CWU would continue to shoot at a 62 percent average for the second half into the final quarter while Northwest U would be limited to 24 percent shooting as the Wildcats would continue to pull away, close out the game and improve to 6-2 for the season.
For Northwest U (6-6), no one would register double figures in scoring tonight with Katie Rozumny scoring 8 points for the Eagles. Hannah Carlson and Charmaine Bradford each scored 6 as the Eagles struggled from the 3-point line hitting just 1 of 17 attempts for 6 percent shooting.
Central Washington was led by Alexis Barrysmith's 17 points while teammate Jasmine Parker scored 10 points and totaled 9 rebounds. The Wildcats hit 26 of 52 shots for 50 percent shooting and shot 77 percent from the free throw line (77 percent). CWU held a sizeable 48-29 margin in rebounding.
"Tonight, it was a disappointing loss and a very disappointing effort by the Eagles tonight," said Coach Ken Crawford of NU. "We had an opportunity to step up and play against a team from another division and we did not respond. It's back to the drawing board and hopefully, with an eagerness to continue to improve."
The Eagles will open conference play next Saturday when they host Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon on Sunday in the Pavilion in Kirkland.