ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University women's basketball will look to bounce back from its loss on Thursday as the team remains in Alaska for another conference matchup. This time, the Wildcats travel to Fairbanks to square off with the Nanooks.
 
GAME INFORMATION
vs. Alaska Fairbanks
Saturday, Jan. 11
1:00 p.m. PT
Alaska Airlines Court
Fairbanks, Alaska
 
QUOTABLE
"Fairbanks is a tough team with a couple of very good scoring guards and some shooters who can really hurt you. Our team has to play team defense and work hard to contest shots on all possessions," CWU Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "We're excited for another opportunity for this group to take the floor and have the chance to continue to grow in the right direction. We have to be disciplined and compete for 40 minutes."
 
SCOUTING ALASKA FAIRBANKS | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2019-20 STATS
The Nanooks enter the weekend with an overall record of 6-8 and are just 1-4 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The team fell to Northwest Nazarene Thursday night, 88-62, and have now lost four straight games.
 
UAF averages 69.9 points per game on 37% shooting from the floor overall. They shoot 33.1% from three-point range and average 65.9% at the free throw line. The Nanooks three-point percentage is third highest in the GNAC.
 
Defensively, the Nanooks give up 72.5 point per game which is last in the GNAC. Opponents shoot 40.4% against them overall but average just 29.5% from three-point range. The Nanooks have the fourth best rebounding average at 39 boards per contest.
 
The GNAC's leading scorer comes from the UAF team in Jocelyn Gandara who averages 18.1 points per game. She shoots an average of 40.9% from the floor overall and 39.5% from deep. Her three-point percentage is 10th highest in the conference.
 
Sam Tolliver is the team's second leader scorer and is fourth in the GNAC with her average of 15.8 points per game. She shoots 31.7% from the floor entering the weekend. Both Gandara and Tolliver are the only Nanooks averaging double-figure points. Tolliver also leads the GNAC in minutes played averaging 35.4 per game.
 
Kylie Wallace and Gandara leading the way in cleaning up the boards. Wallace is the team leader and ninth in the GNAC in rebounding at 6.8 per game. Gandara is right behind her at 6.6 rebounds per game.
 
Wallace is also one of the top shooters in the GNAC percentage wise. Her average field goal percentage of 53.9% is fifth in the conference going into the weekend. She is third on the team in assists at 1.9 per contest.
 
Sabrina Ungaro is UAF's floor general in terms of ball distribution averaging 3.5 per game. Her mark ranks seventh in the GNAC. Tolliver is second in this category dishing out 2.4 assists per contest.
 
Wallace also has the top mark on the team in both free throw percentage and steals. She is seventh in the GNAC with an 82.4 free throw percentage on 28-24 made shots. She averages 1.5 steals per game.
 
GNAC STAT LEADERS (As of Jan. 10)
Despite the loss on Thursday, the Wildcats still find themselves up in a number of statistical categories. Offensively, the team is sixth in scoring at 69.0 points per game and is now fourth in scoring defense allowing 62.9 points per game.
 
The Wildcats still have the top free throw percentage at 78% on 160-205 made shots, a mark that is 17th in Division II. They now rank third in field goal percentage at 43.7% overall. They still sit first in in three-point field goal percentage at 34.8%.
 
On the defensive side, CWU is now fifth in field goal percentage defense holding its opposition to 38% shooting. They slipped to third in three-point field goal percentage defense at 29.5% now.
 
In terms of rebounds per game, CWU's average of 40.6 per game now sits second highest in the GNAC. The Crimson and Black still lead the way in blocked shots with a total of 71 and they average 5.5 per game. Their total blocked shots is now tied for eighth in Division II, while their average is 10th.
 
Alexis Pana is the only player in the top-10 in scoring averaging 13.4 points per game. Kaelie Flores and Samantha Bowman are just outside the top-10 at a tie for 11th. The duo is averaging 12.9 points per game, respectively.
 
Bowman is still third in rebounding in the GNAC averaging 8.3 per game. Flores is now two spots back in sixth with an average of 7.5 per game. Pana is also just outside the top-10 in rebounding averaging 6.3, which is 12th in the GNAC.
 
Bowman continues to hold the top shooting percentage in the conference at 57.9%. She is 62-107 from the floor this season in 13 games played. Pana is the GNAC leader in assists at 5.1 per game in 12 games played.
 
Pana, Bowman and Flores all still rank in the top-10 in free throw percentage. Pana is second at 87.9%, Bowman is third at 87.5% and Flores is sixth at 82.6%, respectively. Pana rank seventh in the GNAC in steals averaging 1.8 per contest.
 
Flores and Taylor Shaw still remain in the top-10 in three-point field goal percentage. Flores leads the team at 42.2% and is seventh in the conference with her average. Shaw is two places behind her averaging 41.4% from deep to sit ninth.
 
The trio of Flores, Bowman and Pana still rank in the top-five in blocked shots. Flores is second in the GNAC at 1.9 per game, while Bowman is third at 1.5. Pana is fifth with 1.3 blocked shots per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Central Washington University women's basketball dropped its third-straight game Thursday night as they fell 68-51 on the road to No. 7-ranked University of Alaska Anchorage. The loss puts CWU's record at 7-6 overall and 2-3 in the GNAC.
 
Multiple factors played into the Seawolves win as they controlled nearly every facet of the game. Their biggest edge came in turnovers as they forced 21 and only had six of their own. The 21 CWU turnovers led to 17 UAA points.
 
With the Wildcats playing without Alexis Pana, the bench looked add more production in the game as they scored 20 points, but the Seawolf reserves had 29 to hold the advantage. Points in the paint also fell in UAA's favor 32-16. Despite the majority edge, CWU battled with the nationally ranked Seawolves the whole night.
 
In her first game off the bench, Samantha Bowman once again was the Wildcats leading scorer with 14 points. She had a near double-double night as she also grabbed nine rebounds to go along with two blocks. No other Wildcat scored in double digits.
 
Brianna Phiakhamngon was the second leading scorer with eight points on 3-9 shooting to go along with five boards. Kassidy Malcolm and Taylor Shaw each added seven points, respectively. Malcolm also had five rebounds, while Shaw blocked two shots.
 
CWU vs. UAF HISTORY
The Wildcats are 39-16 all-time against the Nanooks since they first met in the 1974-75 season. The Crimson and Black currently have won the last five matchups against UAF entering this weekend's contest.
 
The last time the Nanooks took down the Wildcats was back in the 2016-17 campaign with a 69-56 win at home. Since then, CWU has ripped out five-straight victories, including a pair of season sweeps.
 
In her first two seasons as head coach, Randi Richardson-Thornley is a perfect 4-0 against UAF. In five total seasons now at CWU, including her time as the top assistant, the Richardson-Thornley and the Wildcats are 6-2 when taking on the Nanooks.