ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University women's basketball is set to close out the 2019-20 regular season this Saturday in Seattle. The Wildcats take on the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
GAME INFORMATION
at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Feb. 29
2:00 p.m. PT
Brougham Pavilion
Seattle, WA
 
QUOTABLE
"We would love to finish off the season on a strong note heading into the conference tournament," CWU Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "SPU is a talented team who can put some points up on the board quickly. We have to be able to defend them tomorrow night in order to have success."
 
SCOUTING SEATTLE PACIFIC | ROSTER | SCHEDULE | 2019-20 STATS
The Falcons enter the final weekend of the 2019-20 campaign with an 8-19 overall record and are just 6-13 in the GNAC. 
 
SPU is ninth in the conference in scoring at 61.3 points per game. They shoot 41.6% from the floor overall and are 32.9% from three-point range. They are second in the GNAC in free throw percentage at 76.1%.
 
Defensively, the Falcons are giving up 67.4 points per game to the opposition. Opponents shoot 40.1% overall and 31.5% from deep.
 
Ashlynn is the Burgess is the top scorer for SPU averaging 11.5 points per game. Joining her as double figure scorer is Hailie Bennett at 10.7 points per game.
 
Burgess is also the top rebounder at 6.1 boards per game which ranks 10th in the GNAC. Kayla Brundidge is second at 4.6 rebounds per game.
 
GNAC STATS LEADERS (As of Feb. 28)
The Wildcats hold down the No. 5 spot in scoring offense averaging 69.9 points per game and are second in field goal percentage at 44.9%. From beyond the arc, CWU ranks third averaging 35.6%. Their 8.2 average triples made per game leads the conference.
 
On defense, CWU is second in both points allowed and percentage holding opponents to just 62.4 points per game on 38.3% shooting overall. They lead the conference in three-point percentage defense allowing the opposition to shoot just 28.1% from deep.
 
The Wildcats still sit first in free throw percentage at 76.3%. They rank second in in rebounds per game at 39.3 and are also second in blocked shots at 4.6 per game.
 
The quartet of Alexis Pana, Kaelie Flores, Samantha Bowman, and Taylor Shaw all continue to average double-digit points for the Crimson and Black. Pana leads the group and ranks sixth at 14 points per game.
 
Flores and Bowman are 13th and 14th, respectively. Flores is averaging 12 points per game, while Bowman is at 11.9. Shaw is 21st averaging 10.7 points per game.
 
Flores is seventh in rebounding grabbing 6.7 boards per game. Bowman is averaging 6.5 rebounds per game and ranks eighth in the GNAC. Pana is 15th averaging five rebounds per game. JonNae Richardson now ranks 22nd at 4.5 boards per game.
 
Bowman leads the conference in field goal percentage at 61.1%. Flores is 11th at 48%, while Shaw is 16th at 45.6%. Pana is 27th shooting 40.7% from the floor.
 
Pana still sits atop the statistical leaderboard in assists per game averaging 4.9. She is also seventh in steals tallying an average of 1.9 per game. Her 1.6 assist-turnover ratio is seventh in the GNAC.
 
Flores, Pana, and Bowman all still hold down spots in the top-10 in free throw percentage. Flores sits third shooting 86.6%, followed by Pana at fifth shooting 82.5%. Bowman is eighth shooting 80.9%.
 
Shaw still holds down the No. 1 spot in three-point shooting at 45%. Flores is ninth, shooting 38.4%. Pana ranks 18th at 33.3%. Shaw ranks fourth in averages triples made at 2.1, while Pana is sixth at 2.0.
 
Flores is the second best shot blocker in the GNAC at 1.6 swats per game. Bowman is right behind her in third averaging 1.3 blocks per game. Pana is tied for seventh at 1.0 per contest.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Central Washington University women's basketball is headed to the postseason after securing a 70-60 road win Thursday night at Saint Martin's University. The Wildcats had a pair of players also hit career marks in the win.
 
Entering Thursday night's game, senior Kaelie Flores needed 15 points to reach 1,000 for her career, while junior Kassidy Malcolm was just three rebounds shy of 500 for her career. Both players easily eclipsed their respective marks and were key factors in the Wildcats road win.
 
The Wildcats played well on both sides of the ball as they shot 42.2% overall and held the Saints to just 33.3% in route to a berth for the GNAC Tournament. CWU also shot 37.9% from deep on 11 made threes and held the Saints to just 17.6% (3-17).
 
Bench production also helped in the Wildcats win as they outscored the Saints reserves 26-2. Points in the paint was nearly even with SMU barely winning that battle 32-30. The difference maker came in the long ball thanks to CWU nailing 11 and holding SMU to just three makes.
 
It did not take Malcolm long to reach 500 career rebounds as all three of her boards came in the first two minutes of action. Her third rebound of the game to reach 500 came with 8:49 to play in the first and paved the way for a solid night cleaning up the boards.
  
Flores fell just shy of a double-double. She had eight rebounds to go along with her 20 points. She shot 7-12 from the floor and 4-8 from deep. Flores needs just two more rebounds to reach 500 for her career.
 
Bowman was once again a force off the bench scoring 17 points in 25 minutes of action. She also had five boards in the win. Pana put together a double-double performance with 10 rebounds and 11 points. She also had a game-high five assists.
 
Malcolm finished with 10 rebounds to eclipse the career mark of 500 in just three seasons of play. She also had seven points in the win on 3-7 and dished out a pair of assists.
 
The Wildcats are back on the hardwood this Saturday for their final game of the 2019-20 regular season. Central will be in Seattle to take on Seattle Pacific. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. against the Falcons.
 
CWU vs. SPU HISTORY
Since 2003, the Wildcats are 7-28 against the Falcons. CWU is currently on a four-game win streak against SPU.
 
The Wildcats opened GNAC play against the Falcons on Dec. 5, 2019. Despite things being close at halftime, a strong second half helped lift the Wildcats over the Falcons, 65-46, inside Nicholson Pavilion.
 
Central put together a strong shooting night going 15-29 from the floor overall for 51%. They shot over 60% in both the third and fourth quarter to create separation after leading by just five at halftime. The third quarter was the difference maker as CWU held SPU to just eight points to run away with the 19-point win.
 
Defensively, CWU did not allow one SPU player to score in double figures. The Wildcats had arguably their best defensive performance of the season as they held SPU to just 27% shooting on 17-63 made buckets. The Wildcats offense also proved to be a force down low in the paint with 42 of their 65 points coming from there.