ELLENSBURG, Wash. – It's the final game of the decade for Central Washington Wildcats Women's Basketball this Saturday. Winner of their last four at home, CWU will look to close out the calendar year with five straight wins as they get set to battle Northwest Nazarene.
 
GAME INFORMATION
vs. Northwest Nazarene
Saturday, Dec. 21
6:00 p.m. PT
Nicholson Pavilion
Ellensburg, Wash.
 
QUOTABLE
"We're excited to finish off 2019 with a big conference game against a very good NNU team," CWU Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "This will be a highly competitive game and we must play hard, take care of the ball, and execute on both ends of the floor in order to have success."
 
SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2019-20 STATS
The Nighthawks enter the weekend showdown with the same record as the Wildcats. They are 7-3 overall and are 2-0 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Both squads have conference wins this season against Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's.
 
The Nighthawks have won five straight games entering the weekend but have yet to pick up a true road win this season with a record of 0-1. Like CWU, NNU has won four consecutive games at home as they close out 2019.
 
Three Nighthawks are in the double figure average of scoring entering Saturday. Avery Albrecht is the leader at 15.9 points per game, which is third highest in the conference. Second is Marina Valles at 14.6 points per game, followed by Erin Jenkins at 12.9 points per game.
 
All three scorers are shooting over 50% for the season so far. Jenkins leads the trio and team with a 54.5 shooting percentage. Albrecht is second shooting 51.5%, while Valles is third at 50.4%. Albrecht and Valles are also the top two rebounders at 5.7 and 5.1 rebounds per game, respectively.
 
Jenkins is also in the top three in rebounding averaging 4.2 boards per contest. Facilitating the offense as the assist leader is Valles who averages 4.6 assists per game. Her average is third best in the GNAC. Second in assist per game for NNU is Jordan Pinson with 2.2 per game.
 
Valles is the rim protector for the Nighthawks as she has 10 blocks this season in 10 games for an average of 1.0 per game. Clare Eubanks is right behind her with nine on the year and averages 0.9 per game. Valles is the GNAC leader in steals averaging 4.3 per game and has tallied 43 on the season.
 
Offensively, the Nighthawks have the second highest scoring offense in the GNAC averaging 78.2 points per game. Defensively, they give up 66.4 points per game to opponents which is sixth in the GNAC. NNU is the top steals team in the GNAC with 169 for the year and an average of 16.9 per game.
 
GNAC STATS LEADERS (As of Dec. 19)
The Wildcats enter the week still ranked sixth overall in scoring with an average of 71.2 points per game, while their scoring defense is second holding the opposition to 60.2 points per game.
 
CWU still has the top free throw shooting percentage at 79.1% on 125-158 made shots. Central is still the top field goal percentage team in the GNAC at 45.5%. On the flip side, CWU's defense is holding opponents to 36.5% shooting in games which is second best in the GNAC. CWU is now third in three-point shooting at 34.5% and still first in three-point shooting defense at 24.6%.
 
The Wildcats continue to lead the GNAC in blocked shots with 57 and average 5.7 per game. The team averages 41.1 rebounds per game to lead the GNAC and their rebounding margin of +6.4 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 14.4 points per game, which is now sixth in the GNAC. Bowman is second on the team at 14.3 points per game, which is seventh in the GNAC.
 
Bowman and Kaelie Flores also rank in the top-10 in rebounding. Bowman still ranks third in the GNAC at 8.7 boards per contest, while Flores is sixth at 7.8 per game. Bowman continues to own the GNAC lead in field goal percentage at 63.2% shooting per game.
 
Pana still leads the way in assists per game with 5.6 and has 56 on the season. She is second in free throw percentage with a mark of 87.9% on 29-33 made shots. Bowman and Flores also rank in the top-five in free throw percentage. Bowman is third 87.5%, while Flores is fourth at 86.2%.
 
Pana is fifth in steals averaging 2.1 per game and has 21 this season. Flores and Taylor Shaw are both in the top-10 in three-point percentage. Flores is eighth at 44.4% from deep, while Shaw is 10th at 43.4% from beyond the arc.
 
Three Wildcats are in the top-five in blocked shots in Flores, Pana and Bowman. Flores is the GNAC leader at 1.9 per game and has 19 on the year. Pana is third at 1.6 blocks per game, while Bowman is tied for fourth at 1.5 per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Central Washington University women's basketball picked up its fourth straight home win Tuesday night with another blowout victory inside Nicholson Pavilion. CWU took down Academy of Art University 84-63 to improve to 7-3 on the season.
 
CWU shot 49.1% for the game, putting up 57 total shots and nailing 28 of them. They were just 9-23 from three-point range for 39.1% but went 19-21 from the free throw line. Defensively, CWU held the Urban Knights to 37.1% shooting for the game.
 
JonNae Richardson's spark off the bench in the first half paved the way in the second half as she scored 11 points in that span to finish with 19. She was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine and tied a game-high in blocks with two.
 
Samantha Bowman was the leading scorer with 20 points and had six boards in the win. Kaelie Flores added 17 points, while Alexis Pana chipped in 10 points to go along with five assists and two blocks.
 
CWU vs. NNU HISTORY
The Wildcats and Nighthawks have met on the hardwood 45 times since the 1978-79 season when they first played each other. CWU is just 14-31 all-time against NNU and is 6-13 in home games during the span.
 
The Nighthawks have won each of the last three matchups against the Wildcats. The last CWU win against NNU came in the 2017-18 season when the Wildcats won 79-73 in Nampa, Idaho. The last home win over NNU came in 2016-17 when CWU won 84-76 back on February 21, 2017.
 
Under Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley, CWU is 1-3 against NNU in two seasons of play. In her time at CWU, including being the top assistant for two seasons, Richardson Thornley and the Wildcats are 3-5 against the Nighthawks.