ELLENSBURG, Wash. – After picking up a third straight win at home this past Saturday, Central Washington University women's basketball has a quick turnaround as the team hosts Academy of Art University on Tuesday, Dec. 17 in another in-region bout.
 
GAME INFORMATION
vs. Academy of Art
Tuesday, Dec. 17
7:30 p.m. PT
Nicholson Pavilion
Ellensburg, Wash.
 
QUOTABLE
"Academy of Art will be another great test for our team. They play fast paced and are good at putting pressure on you in the paint," CWU Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "We have to play good team defense tomorrow in order to have success."
 
SCOUTING ACADEMY OF ART | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2019-20 STATS
The Urban Knights are 2-2 overall and have an 0-2 mark in PacWest Conference play. Against GNAC opponents, Academy of Art is 2-0 this season with win over Western Oregon and Concordia (Ore.), respectively.
 
Three players are averaging double-digit points entering Tuesday's matchup. Tayler Bennett is the leader at 15.8 points per game 50% shooting. Pam Wilmore is second at 13.0 points per game with a team best 52.9% field goal percentage. Brianna Cates is third averaging 10.8 points per game on 40% shooting.
 
Megan Jefferson leads the way in rebounding with an average of 8.3 boards per contest. Lily Perkins is the second leading rebounder averaging 5.3 per game. Wilmore leads the way in assists with 4.8 per game and has 19 for the season.
 
Ines Medina has three blocked shots for an average of 0.8 per game to lead the Urban Knights. Bennett has the top mark in steals with 10 total and averages 2.5 per game. Aari'yanna Sanders is second averaging 2.3 steal per game.
 
As a team, Academy of Art averages 70.5 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the floor. They shoot 28.9% from beyond the arc and average 37.3 rebounds per game. Defensively, they give up an average of 77.5 points per game.

GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Central Washington Basketball Swept the weekly honor of GNAC Player of the week for both men and women. Taking home weekly honors were Gamaun Boykin for the men and Samantha Bowman for the women. For Boykin it is his first player of the week accolade, while Bowman has picked up her second of the season.
 
Boykin recorded a triple-double on Saturday as the Wildcats rolled past Multnomah University, 106-88 to improve to 6-3 on the year. It is just the fifth triple-double recorded in GNAC history. He was one five Wildcats to score in double figures in the win. Boykin finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. He shot 8-13 from the field and recorded four offensive boards in the win.

Bowman was one four Wildcats to score in double figures as the team took down Cal State LA 75-52 to improve to 6-3 overall and extend a home win streak to three-straight. Bowman put together her third double-double of the season, scoring 17 points and grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds. She shot 6-10 from the floor and was 2-3 from beyond the arc. Bowman also blocked a trio of shots. Of her 17 boards, six came on the offensive end.
 
GNAC STATS LEADERS (As of Dec. 16)
The Wildcats enter the week still ranked sixth overall in scoring with an average of 69.1 points per game, while their scoring defense is second holding the opposition to 59.9 points per game.
 
CWU has the top free throw shooting percentage at 77.4% on 106-137 made shots. Central is also the field goal percentage team in the GNAC at 45%. On the flip side, CWU's defense is holding opponents to 36.4% shooting in games which is second best in the GNAC. CWU is fourth in three-point shooting at 34% and first in three-point shooting defense at 24.6%.
 
The Wildcats also lead the GNAC in blocked shots with 51 and average 5.7 per game. The team averages 41.1 rebounds per game to lead the GNAC and their rebounding margin of +6.9 is second best in the conference.
 
Individually, two players rank in the top-10 in scoring in Alexis Pana and Samantha Bowman. Pana is the team leader at 14.9 points per game, which is fifth in the GNAC. Bowman is second on the team at 13.7 points per game, which is ninth in the GNAC.
 
Bowman and Kaelie Flores also rank in the top-10 in rebounding. Bowman is now third in the GNAC at 9.0 boards per contest, while Flores is fifth at 7.9 per game. Bowman is still the GNAC leader in field goal percentage at 61% shooting per game.
 
Pana still leads the way in assists per game with 5.7 and has 5145 on the season. She also has the top free throw percentage mark of 86.2% on 25-29 made shots. Bowman and Flores also rank in the top-five in free throw percentage. Bowman is second 85.7%, while Flores is fourth at 82.6%.
 
Pana is fifth in steals averaging 2.2 per game and has 20 this season. Taylor Shaw is sixth in three-point field goal percentage at 45.8%. Three Wildcats are in the top-five in blocked shots in Flores, Pana and Bowman. Flores is the GNAC leader at 2.0 per game while Pana and Bowman are tied for third at 1.6, respectively.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Central Washington University women's basketball picked up a solid win at home Saturday night taking down the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles 75-52. The win improves CWU's overall record to 6-3 and it is their third straight win at home.
 
Helping the Wildcats secure the win at home was the work they did cleaning up the boards. CWU out-rebounded Cal State LA 50-31. Of the 50 rebounds, 15 come on the offensive glass which helped CWU score 19 second chance points, while the Golden Eagles had just six.
 
As team, CWU shot 44.6% from the floor on 29-65 made buckets. CWU shot just 8-22 from deep for 36.4% but they held did not give a three to Cal State LA who went 0-11 from three-point range. The Golden Eagles finished with a 34.8 field goal percentage 23-66 shooting.
 
Samantha Bowman put together her third double-double of the season, scoring 17 points and grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds. She shot 6-10 from the floor, which included going 2-3 from beyond the arc. Bowman also blocked a trio of shots.
 
Shaw was the game-high scorer with 24 points. She was 10-14 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from three-point range. She also grabbed five boards and blocked a shot. Brianna Phiakhamngon chipped in 11 points on 5-12 shooting to round out the double figure scoring.
 
Kaelie Flores had just four points on the night but was the game leader in blocked shots with five and grabbed nine rebounds. Alexis Pana added nine points and dished out a game-high six assists to go along with two steals and two blocks.
 
CWU vs. AAU HISTORY
The Wildcats and Urban Knights have faced just five times prior to Tuesday's matchup. CWU leads Academy of Art 3-2 in the short series. The last times these two teams met was in the 2017-18 season as CWU walked away with an 81-69 road win.
 
At home, CWU is 1-0 against the Urban Knights. The Wildcats lone home win came in the 2009-10 season, 87-55. The Wildcats and Urban Knights first met in the 2008-09 season, with CWU winning 66-59.
 
The two squads squared off against in the 2012-23 season with Academy of Art winning 73-64. Three seasons later in 2015-16, Academy of Art once again won 76-68 to even the series at 2-2 prior to CWU taking the lead in 2017-18.