Women's Basketball | 12/30/2015 11:47:00 AM

ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Dec. 30) – The Central Washington University women's basketball team rounds out the 2015 calendar year, and opens 2016, with a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games against Seattle Pacific University and Saint Martin's University.
 
"They are two well coached teams and were in the conference tournament last year," CWU Head Coach Jeff Harada said.  "Two teams that finished above us.  While we are happy with our record and non-conference results we aren't satisfied with that. We understand that if we want to make a push to the conference tournament it starts this weekend."
 
The Falcons are 5-4 on the season, including a 3-0 mark in GNAC play.  Seattle Pacific last played Wisconsin-Parkside, on Dec. 19, and fell 60-53 at home.
 
Courtney Hollander and Jordan McPhee lead the Falcons' offensive efforts with 12 and 11.2 points per game, respectively.  Hollander is shooting 43.2 percent from the floor and just a shade under 50 percent from beyond the arc.  The Falcons are averaging 68 points per game and, as a team, are shooting 40.6 percent from the floor.
 
Hollander is also the leading rebounder for SPU, pulling in 79 boards per game.  McPhee again follows her, averaging 5.3 per game.  Seattle Pacific is outrebounding 42-35 in nine games this season.
 
Saint Martin's has had a rough go in the first nine games of the season.  The Saints are 3-6, but 1-1 in GNAC play.  They are coming off a 65-54 victory against Quest University on December 12^th.  Saint Martin's plays Northwest Nazarene on Thursday (Dec. 31) prior to making the journey to Ellensburg.
 
Krista Stabler leads a Saints offense that averages 58.6 points per game.  Stabler is averaging 18.6 points per game, while shooting 50 percent from three-point land.
 
Megan Wiedeman sits behind Stabler, averaging 12 points per game.  Wiedeman leads the Saints with 10.9 rebounds per game.
 
Central Washington enters the week boasting an 8-2 record with a 1-1 mark in the GNAC.  The Wildcats are the 11^th scoring defense in the NCAA Division II, averaging 53.7 points per game.
 
"I think our defense was, at first, a little sporadic," Harada added.  "It has tapered down and is consistent right now.  We aren't a team that is going to be in your face and denying every pass and every entry, you know, playing extreme ball pressure for 94 feet.  We want solid defense, arrive on the catch, keep you in front, keep you in help position, and force you to take contested shots.  That's what we have been doing for the past few games and have held some teams to under 10 in a few quarters, that's a goal of ours.  If we come out and follow our game plan for each and every game I think we have a chance to be successful."
 
Offensively, Jasmine Parker and Jasmin Edwards are atop the Wildcats' stats.  Parker is averaging 11.5 points per game, while Edwards is averaging 11.2.  Edwards has also notched 62 assists, good for 19^th in Division II.
 
Parker leads CWU's rebounding effort, pulling down 8.4 boards per game.
 
The Wildcats have found significant success from a strong utilization of their bench in the first 10 games of the season.  Mandy Steward has come off the bench in all 10 games and is averaging 9.6 points per game.
 
"Bench play is huge and a key all season," Harada noted.  "It was big for us on the last road trip to California.  I thought India Matheson came off the bench in both games and gave us a spark."
 
Matheson came off the bench against Cal State LA and Cal Poly Pomona, contributing 19 points in less than 40 minutes.
 
"Whether it's Mandy Steward, Sadie Mensing, JonNae Richardson, or anyone, we know that we are pretty deep this year and we don't have to worry about bringing in kids off the bench," Harada acknowledged.  "We expect them to come in and provide a spark. We are confident one through 12 with everybody."
 
Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. on New Year's Eve and 5:15 p.m. on January 2^nd.