SEATTLE, Wash. – Five players scored in double figures and Bree Halsey ripped down 16 rebounds as the Humboldt State women's basketball team opened the 2009-10 season with an 88-72 win over the Central Washington Wildcats in the opening game of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic.

Box Score

The win is the fifth total and fourth consecutive opening-game win in the six years that head coach Joddie Gleason has led the program.  HSU is now 1-0 on the season while Central Washington's record stands at 0-1.

Preseason All-American Brittney Taylor led the Jacks with 20 points, including a team high 11 in the second half.  Andrea Bobic scored 16, Paige Peterson 14, Taylor Kilgore added 10 and, off the bench, Kayla Williams got a career-high 12 points.

“Kayla hit two really big 3-pointers for us,” head coach Joddie Gleason said.  “She came in and provided us a lift offensively and played the point for us as well.”

Nineteen seconds into the game, Central Washington's Sara Bergner hit a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats what would turn out to be their only lead of the day 3-0. Kilgore, who went 3-for-4 from behind the arc on the afternoon, hit a three to tie the game and spark a Lumberjacks surge. 

HSU went on a 12-2 run, led by two 3-pointers and a jumper from Bobic, to take a 15-5 lead after four minutes, 24 seconds.  When Kilgore was fouled on a made 3-pointer and hit the free throw, the Jacks had pushed their advantage to 15 points, 26-11, with 11 minutes, 25 seconds to play in the first half.

The Wildcats twice cut the Lumberjacks lead to single digits.  Jenn Jacobs' jumper with seven minutes, 57 seconds left made the score 30-22 and 1:40 later another Bergner 3-pointer got CWU to within seven points at 32-25.

HSU then went on a 13-4 run to close the half, led by four points each from Williams and Halsey.  Humboldt State out-shot Central Washington from the field, 50 percent to 30 percent and led 45-29 at the midway point.

The Lumberjacks opened the second half with a 18-8 run over the first 5:47, led by nine points from Taylor, to open a 26-point lead at 63-37.

“I thought we did a really good job of attacking on offense and finding the open player, especially Paige (Peterson),” Gleason said.  “She was getting to the basket and making a skip pass to an open shooter or getting it to Brittney (Taylor) under the basket.”

When CWU's Brooke Fernandez hit a three with 6:52 left in the game, the Wildcats had cut the Jacks' lead to 13 points, 75-62, but Central Washington would get not closer.

With the Wildcats committing 13 team fouls in the half, HSU hit its last 10 free throw attempts to secure the win.

“We weren't very pleased with our play in the last 15 minutes,” Gleason said.  “We pushed the lead to 26 and then didn't play very hard to finish the game.  They moved the ball well, hit some open shots and cut it to 13 points.  If we hadn't built that big lead we might have lost.  We have to play 40 minutes, not 25 or 30 in order to win consistently.”

HSU out-rebounded the Wildcats, 46-27, led by Halsey's career high 16.

“Bree (Halsey) was all over the boards and did a nice job of securing the ball on the defensive end,” Gleason said.  “They were sending a couple of people at her, so she did a real good job of rebounding in a crowd.  Paige (Peterson) and (Andrea) Bobic also did a good job, chasing down the long rebounds.”

The Wildcats had three players in double figures, led by 19 points from Sophie Russell.  Amanda Murdoch added 12 and Fernandez chipped in 10.

Humboldt State faces tournament host Seattle Pacific on Saturday.  Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. and fans can follow all the action through live stats or via webcast at the Seattle Pacific website www.gofalcons.com.

Humboldt State vs Central Washington
11/20/09 1:00 PM at Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
At Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
HUMBOLDT STATE 88, CENTRAL WASHINGTON 72
HUMBOLDT STATE (1-0. 0-0)
TAYLOR, Brittney 9-16 2-4 20; Bobic, Andrea 7-14 0-0 16; Peterson, Paige 5-9 4-4 14; Williams, Kayla 3-6 4-4 12; Kilgore, Taylor 3-6 1-1 10; Halsey, Bree 3-6 2-2 8; Huffman, Kristen 1-2 2-2 4; Howard, Whitney 1-1 0-0 2; Petty,Lisa 0-1 2-2 2; Wilson, Alyssa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-61 17-19 88.
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (0-1, 0-0)
Russell,Sophie 7-14 3-3 19; Murdoch,Amanda 4-10 1-2 12; Fernandez,Brooke 4-10 0-0 10; Bergner,Sara 3-7 1-2 9; Afoa,Shaina 4-8 0-0 8; Duerr,Brittany 2-7 1-1 6; Jacobs,Jenn 2-7 0-0 4; Betteridge,Colleen 0-3 2-2 2; Albrecht,Stacy 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 27-69 8-10 72.
Humboldt State................ 45 43 - 88
Central Washington............ 29 43 - 72
3-point goals--Humboldt State 7-10 (Kilgore, Taylor 3-4; Bobic, Andrea 2-3;Williams, Kayla 2-3), Central Washington 10-23 (Murdoch,Amanda 3-5;Russell,Sophie 2-5; Bergner,Sara 2-4; Fernandez,Brooke 2-6; Duerr,Brittany 1-3). Fouled out--Humboldt State-None, Central Washington-None. Rebounds--Humboldt State 46 (Halsey, Bree 16), Central Washington 27 (Afoa,Shaina 8). Assists--Humboldt State 25 (Peterson, Paige 8), Central Washington 22 (Afoa,Shaina 4; Betteridge,Colleen 4). Total fouls—Humboldt State 9, Central Washington 19. Technical fouls--Humboldt State-None, Central Washington-None. A-144 Sodexo Tip-Off Classic