ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University women's basketball is set to take on in-state rival Western Washington this Saturday (tomorrow). The Wildcats will look to earn their 10th conference win tomorrow night.
 
GAME INFORMATION
At Western Washington
Saturday, Feb. 15
7:00 p.m. PT
Carver Gym
Bellingham, Wash.
 
QUOTABLE
"This will be another tough test against a very good Western Washington team who's been very hard to beat at home," CWU head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "They are a very disciplined and well coached team who has a balanced scoring attack inside and out. We are going to have to play very disciplined and minimize mistakes ourselves in order to compete."
 
SCOUTING WESTERN WASHINGTON | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2019-20 STATS
The Vikings enter the Saturday showdown with an overall record of 16-7 and are 10-5 in GNAC play. The Vikings were undefeated at home before falling to Northwest Nazarene 79-72 on Thursday night.
 
WWU is third in the GNAC in scoring averaging 74.0 points per game. They have the highest shooting percentage at 45.6% overall but shoot just 30.4% from three-point range to rank second to last (9th).
 
Defensively, the Vikings own the second-best scoring defense holding opponents to just 62.1 points per game on 39.2% shooting from the floor. They are also ninth overall in three-point percentage defense allowing the opposition to shoot 30.4% from deep.
 
WWU sits fourth in the conference in free throw percentage at 72.4%. They rank second in rebounds per game averaging 39.5. They still sit first in blocked shots at 5.0 per contest and in assists at 17.6 per game. WWU is third in steals per game at 10.2.
 
Anna Schwecke leads the way in scoring with an average of 12.8 points per game. She is 11th in the GNAC in scoring. She has the second highest field goal percentage in the conference as well at 60.5%.
 
Emma Duff is the second leading scorer at 11.0 points per game and ranks 20th in the GNAC. She is the team's leading rebounder and is eighth in the conference at 6.4 boards per game. Schwecke is two spots back in 10th with 6.3 boards per contest.
 
Mollie Olson and Lexie Bland lead the way as floor generals. Olson averages 4.5 assists per night to ranks third in the GNAC. Bland also ranks in the top-10 in assists averaging 3.3 per contest. Her mark is seventh overall.
 
Schwecke is the top free throw shooter for the Vikings at 85.5%. She ranks third in the conference going into the weekend. She also ranks fifth in blocked shots at 1.1 per game. Duff is three spots back at eighth averaging 1.0 swat per game.
 
Avery Dykstra is the top stealer with an average of 1.6 per game and ranks 12th in the GNAC. Bland is 17th at 1.4 per game. Olson highest the third-best assist-turnover ratio in the GNAC at 1.8.
 
GNAC STATS LEADERS (As of Feb. 14)
Central continues to sit in the No. 5 spot in scoring offense. They average 69.3 points per game and shoot 45.2% from the floor to rank second in the GNAC. The Wildcats are also second in three-point shooting at 35.3%. They average 7.8 three's made per game which ranks second in the GNAC.
 
Defensively, the Wildcats are third in points allowed at 63.4 per game. Opponents shoot just 38.6% against CWU which is third lowest. The Wildcats also have the second-best three-point field goal percentage at 28.6%.
 
The Wildcats are still third in rebounding at 39.0 per game. They also rank second in blocked shots averaging 4.6 per game. The Wildcats are back atop the rankings in free throw percentage at 76.3%.
 
Four players rank in the top-25 in scoring. Alexis Pana is seventh at 13.9 points per game. Samantha Bowman is 13th at 12.6 points per game, followed by Kaelie Flores in 14th at 12.3 points per game. Taylor Shaw rounds out the quartet at 22nd averaging 10.8 points per game.
 
Bowman is the top percentage shooter in the GNAC. She shoots 62.6% from the floor overall to own the top spot. She is fifth in rebounding at 7.0 boards per game. Flores is 10th in shooting percentage at 49% and is seventh in rebounds at 6.8 per game.
 
Pana is 15th in rebounds per game averaging 5.1. JonNae Richardson is just outside the top-25 at 26th averaging 3.9 per contest. Pana still leads the way in assists per game at 5.0 per game. She is eighth in steals averaging 1.8.
 
Shaw is 16th in the GNAC in overall field goal percentage at 45.5%. She is the GNAC leader in three-point shooting at 45%. Her average of 2.1 three-pointers made per game is third in the GNAC. Pana is fifth, also at 2.1 triples made per game.
 
Flores, Bowman and Pana still sit in the top-10 in free throw percentage. Flores is second overall at 88.5%. Bowman ranks sixth shooting 81.3%, while Pana is seventh at 81.1%. The trio also ranks in the top-10 in blocked shots.
 
Flores is second averaging 1.7 swats per game. Bowman is right behind her in third at 1.4 blocks per game. Pana is just inside the top-10 at ninth averaging 1.0 block per contest. Pana is also sixth in assist-turnover ratio at 1.6.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Central Washington University women's basketball picked up its 14th win of the season Thursday night with an 83-74 road win against Simon Fraser University (B.C.). The win puts the Wildcats at 9-6 now in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
Multiple factors played into the Wildcats road win but 59 first half points, with 30 coming in the second quarter helped the Wildcats lead by 22 at halftime and keep them in the driver seat the majority of the night. SFU (16-9, 11-4 GNAC) managed to outscore CWU in the second half, but the fast start was too much to overcome.
 
Central shot 57.1% from the floor overall and was 42.1&% from three-point range. Defensively, the allowed SFU to shoot 43.9% overall, but held them to just 31% from deep. Rebounding was owned by Central as they grabbed 41 and held SFU to just 18.
 
Alexis Pana and Kassidy Malcolm each scored 13 points in the win. Malcolm grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double. Pana tied the game-high in assists dishing out six to go along with a pair of steals.
 
Kaelie Flores and Taylor Shaw rounded out the balanced double figure scoring for the Wildcats. Flores added 12 and was second in rebounds with six. Shaw did not miss a single shot as she chipped in 11. She was a perfect 3-3 from the floor, all of which coming from three-point range, to go along with a clean 2-2 at the free throw line.
 
CWU vs. WWU HISTORY
The Vikings own a 94-15 series lead all-time in 109 meetings, but the Wildcats have won each of the last three meetings. The two squads first met in the 1972-73 season and have squared off at least two times every season ever since then.
 
The Wildcats defeated the Vikings 72-62 at home back on Jan. 16. The Wildcats swept the series last season against the Vikings, winning both games by double figures. In three seasons now of leading CWU, Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley is 4-1 against WWU and is 1-1 on the road.