ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington University women's basketball picked up a big blowout win Thursday night at home as the team thrashed Alaska Fairbanks 91-69. The Wildcats win moves them to 13-8 overall and 8-5 in the GNAC.
 
Helping the Wildcats secure the win at home was a fast start to the first half in which CWU put up 50 points and held the Nanooks (8-14, 2-11 GNAC) to just 28. The Wildcats held a 42-20 edge in points in the paint and went 10-25 from deep to secure the home win. The 91 points for the Wildcats is their highest in a game this season.
 
"I'm really happy with how our team played in moments," CWU Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "Credit to Fairbanks, they were better than we were in the third quarter. I'm thankful that Lex [Pana] was able to step up for us when they were going on their run. Overall, happy with three of the four quarters. Offensively, I thought we shared the ball super well and had good movement from inside to outside. We had four people in double figures."
 
The game looked like it was set for a slow start as CWU only led 2-0 in the first three minutes of play. The Wildcats offense then found its rhythm and scored 12 more points by the first media timeout. The Nanooks managed just four in that span and trailed 14-4 at the midway point.
 
The first completely belonged to the Wildcats who scored nine more points in the final five minutes of action in the first frame. CWU led 23-12 and a big help was going 3-4 from three-point range and shooting 58.8% overall. They also held the Nanooks to without a triple as they were held 0-6 from deep.
 
Taylor Shaw was pivotal in the first 10 minutes of play going 2-2 from three-point range. Kassidy Malcolm was also a force pouring in 10 first quarter points on 5-6 shooting. The Crimson and Black's fast start in the first set them up for a solid night at home.
 
The second quarter completely belonged to CWU who outscored the Nanooks 27-16. Three-point shooting continued to stay hot for the Wildcats who went 4-9. Malcolm's dominance also continued with eight more points in the second frame to get to 18 by half.
 
The Wildcats went into the locker room leading 50-28 thanks to the merit of 18-35 made shots in the first half and 7-13 made three-pointers. The offense shot 51.4% for the half and the CWU defense held UAF to just 22.6% overall on 7-31 shooting.
 
The start of the third went in the favor of the Nanooks who scored 11-straight points before the Wildcats even managed to answer. The near four-minute drought by CWU and the Nanooks quick makes made it a 50-39 with just 6:12 to play in the third. 
 
The Wildcats looked to respond as Samantha Bowman scored four straight for the Wildcats and made it a 54-39 game. The Nanooks quickly had a response going on a 6-0 run to trail by just nine, 54-45.
 
The third quarter dragged on for a good while as both teams had an abundance of fouls. Nanooks managed to outscore the Wildcats 30-21, but the Wildcats late scoring surge gave them a 71-58 lead going into the fourth and final frame of play.
 
The fourth quarter saw things get back into the favor of CWU who scored the first six points of the frame and led 77-58 to force a UAF timeout in the first 2:29 of play. All six points came from Alexis Pana who paced the offense in the fourth.
 
The remainder of the fourth quarter was own by the Wildcat as they ultimately outscored the Nanooks 20-11 to hold on for a 22-point victory. The Wildcats finished shooting 60% in the fourth alone and held UAF to 17.6% shooting in that span as well.
 
"We had good movement on offense," Malcolm said. "Lex [Pana] was making good passes into the post. From that, we had good inside out looks and that was really great. On defense, we had to switch to zone but we were able to shut them down in that."
 
Four Wildcats finished the game in double figures. Malcolm led the group with 24 points. She completed the double-double with 10 rebounds. Bowman scored 18 points in just 16 minutes of play. Pana slashed home 15 points. Shaw rounded out the Wildcat scorers with 11 points. 
 
The Wildcats close out their three-game homestand this Saturday, Feb. 8 against No. 8 national ranked Alaska Anchorage. Tip-off against the Seawolves is set for 6 p.m. inside Nicholson Pavilion.