ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University women's basketball has a quick turnaround following a 2-0 road trip in Oregon this past week. The Wildcats end a three-game road trip tomorrow with a matchup against Northwest Nazarene.
GAME INFORMATION
vs. Northwest Nazarene
Tuesday, Jan. 28
6:00 p.m. PT
Johnson Sports Center
Nampa, Idaho
QUOTABLE
"We're excited for tomorrow's matchup against one of the top teams in the league. NNU is a very aggressive and competitive squad," CWU Head Coach
Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "We are going to have to execute very well on both ends and compete for 40 minutes in order to have success in this road game."
SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2019-20 STATS
The Nighthawks enter the Tuesday tilt against CWU with a 13-5 overall record and are 8-2 in conference action. The currently sit second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings.
NNU is currently the GNAC leader in scoring averaging 77.9 points per game. They shoot at 43.5% from the floor overall and 31.1% from three-point range. Defensively, NNU is giving up 68.0 points per game on 41.1% shooting overall and 30.6% from deep.
The Nighthawks still lead the GNAC in steals per game. They average 14.3 per game.
Three players currently average double figures for NNU in Avery Albrecht, Marina Valles, and Erin Jenkins. All three rank in the top-10 in the GNAC led by Albrecht whose 15.8 points per game is third highest.
Valles is second on the team and fifth in the GNAC in scoring at a mark of 14.5 points per game. Jenkins rounds out the trio averaging 13.2 points per game which is 10th in the GNAC.
Albrecht also leads the team in rebounding with an average of 5.4 per game. Valles is right behind her averaging 5.0 boards per game. Jenkins is the team's top percentage shooting at 53.2% and is the third leading rebounder at 4.3 per game.
Valles is the floor general in terms on distributing the ball. She is dishing out 4.5 assists per game which is third best in the GNAC going into the week. Valles also leads the defense in terms of steals. She averages 3.6 per game and is the GNAC leader with that average.
Jenkins is the top three-point shooter for NNU at 43.5%. She is the third best percentage shooter in the GNAC.
GNAC STATS LEADERS (As of Jan. 27)
CWU currently ranks fifth in the GNAC in scoring offense with an average of 68.2 points per game. They rank second in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage at 44.7% and 34.9%, respectively.
Defensively, CWU is third in points allowed. They give up just 61.9 points per game to the opposition. The Wildcats are also third in field goal percentage defense at 37.9%. They lead the GNAC in three-point shooting defense holding opponents to just 27.3% from deep.
CWU still sits second in free throw percentage at 74.6%. the team has gone 212-284 from the free throw line this season. They are also fourth in rebounding averaging 39.0 boards per game. They are second in blocked shots with 90 total and an average of 5.0 per game.
Alexis Pana currently ranks sixth in scoring averaging 14.3 points per game.
Kaelie Flores is 12th at 12.8 points per game.
Samantha Bowman is 16th at 11.4, while
Taylor Shaw is 18th at 11.3.
Bowman and Flores are fifth and sixth, respectively in rebounding. Bowman is the team leader at 7.4 per game, while Flores is right behind her at 7.0 per contest. The duo has combined for 251 total rebounds so far this season.
Bowman currently ranks third in field goal percentage in the GNAC. She is shooting 57.6% from the floor overall on 72-125 made shots in 17 games played. Flores is ninth in the GNAC with a 50.6 shooting percentage.
Pana is still the GNAC leader in assists. She has tallied 76 in 16 games played and averages 4.8 per game. Pana also ranks 10th in steals with an average of 1.6 per game.
Flores is second in the GNAC in free throw percentage at 86.5%. Bowman is sixth at 80.8%, while Pana is seventh at 80.4%.
Shaw is second in the conference in terms of three-point shooting. She is shooting 45.2% from deep and averages 2.1 made three-pointers per game. Flores is ninth in the GNAC in three-point percentage at 37.3%.
Flores, Bowman, and Pana are ranked in the top-five in blocked shots. Flores is second at 1.9 per game, with Bowman right behind her at third with 1.3 per game. Pana is fifth at 1.2 blocks per game.
LAST TIME OUT
Central Washington University women's basketball team took on Western Oregon in a mid-day matchup. The Wildcats completed the weekend sweep by knocking off the Wolves 70-50 on Saturday.
CWU had multiple factors play into the road win but it was the work of the bench and points in the paint that helped them down Western Oregon (10-6, 4-6 GNAC) on the road. The Wildcats won the points in the paint battle, 40-20, and their reserves outscored the WOU reserves 25-12. 22-point rallies in the first and third quarter also helped the Wildcats en route to their second straight win along with a 42-20 edge in rebounds.
Four Wildcats scored in double figures led by a double-double performance from
Kassidy Malcolm. She scored 11 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
Kaelie Flores was the game-high scorer with 15 points to go alone with seven boards.
Samantha Bowman finished with 12 points and had a quartet of rebounds to go along with two steals.
Taylor Shaw added 10 points and
Alexis Pana fell just short of double-digits points scoring nine but had a game-high seven assists.
CWU vs. NNU HISTORY
Tuesday's game will mark the 47th all-time meeting between CWU and NNU. The Wildcats are just 14-32 against the Nighthawks in the series.
The Nighthawks have won each of the last four matchups against the Wildcats, including an 85-76 win back on December 21, 2019 earlier this season. The last CWU win against NNU came in the 2017-18 season when the Wildcats won 79-73 in Nampa, Idaho.
Under Head Coach
Randi Richardson-Thornley, CWU is 1-4 against NNU in three seasons of play. In her time at CWU, including being the top assistant for two seasons, Richardson Thornley and the Wildcats are 3-6 against the Nighthawks.
