ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Feb. 28) – The Central Washington University women's basketball team is back in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The Wildcats open the tournament as the number five seed and play the fourth seed Montana State Billings.
The Wildcats finished the 2017-18 regular season with an 11-9 record in GNAC play, while Billings finished just a game ahead at 12-8.
Two of the Yellowjackets' 12 conference victories came against the Wildcats in a pair of vastly different games.
GAME INFORMATION
Thursday at 5:15 p.m. AKST |
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
REGULAR SEASON MEETINGS
The first meeting came on January 13
th in Billings.
Sadie Mensing led the Wildcats' offense with 20 points and seven rebounds. She also recorded a team high six assists.
Taylor Baird and
Beverly Verduin each recorded 12 points, while
Kaelie Flores chipped in 11. Flores also recorded seven rebounds.
The Wildcats finished 48.4 percent from the floor, including 10 made three's. They hauled in 31 rebounds, three blocks, and six steals. The Wildcats scored 14 points off of turnovers, 32 in the paint, and the bench chipped in for 25. Central finished 14-for-21 from the charity stripe.
The Yellowjackets took home an 86-84 win after shooting 57.1 percent from beyond the arc. A second half surge gave the Yellowjackets an opportunity to force the Wildcats to relinquish their lead and Billings took advantage.
The second game also went to the Yellowjackets, but it was not as close. The Wildcats struggled to shoot from the floor, finishing with just a 28.1 shooting percentage.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Jasmin Edwards,
Beverly Verduin, and
Rachel Lorentson became the first-ever senior class in program history to lead the Wildcats to four straight conference tournaments.
Edwards became the first player in program history to amass 500 assists. Not only did she eclipse 500 assists, she also eclipsed 1,000 points in her career.
Lorentson and Verduin both began the season on bench, but worked their way into the starting lineup and helped guide the Wildcats in the second half of conference play.
NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS
Last season, the Wildcats snuck into the postseason and defeated Simon Fraser University in the opening round, 58-57, when
Sadie Mensing made a pair of late free throws to help the Wildcats seal it away.
The Clan had been ranked as high as No. 20 in the NCAA Division II prior to their loss to the Wildcats in the 2017 GNAC Tournament.
This season, the Wildcats enter the tournament with a conference record of +2 from last season and their opponent has not been ranked this year.
The Wildcats are 14-5 when shooting over 40 percent from the floor. When shooting under 40 percent from the floor, the Wildcats record is just 1-8.
