ELLENSBURG, Wash.—The Central Washington women's basketball team is set to host the Pirates from Whitworth (5-5, 0-2) on Thursday, December 30^th. This is the Wildcats (7-4, 1-2) final non-conference matchup of the season.

Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

QUOTABLE
"Excited to get back to playing after break. Whitworth is a good program, and this will be a good test for our team to see how well we can prepare with only two days of practice before we play." Said CWU Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley.

SCOUTING THE PIRATES
The Pirates are currently 5-5 overall and 0-2 in the Northwest Conference. The Pirates are fresh off of a 2-0 hot streak taking down Colorado College and Walla Walla University at the Kim Evanger Raney Classic.

The Pirates average 63.2 points per game, a -1.4 deficit against their opponents thus far this season. The Pirates are a respectable .417 from the field and .339 from beyond the arc. In the post is where the Pirates shine, as they have out rebounded opponents on a 3.5 margin with 35.6 per game.

The Wildcats will look to take advantage of the Pirates 16.9 turnovers per game, as the Pirates only manage 6.2 steals alongside it.

LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats (7-4, 1-2) are back at home after the holiday break and a successful non-conference trip to California. The 'Cats took down Concordia Irvine (6-5, 3-2) and Cal State Los Angeles (4-6, 3-2) to remain unbeaten in the Golden State.

The 'Cats are averaging 70.0 points per game being led by Samantha Bowman. Bowman currently sits second in the GNAC in scoring averaging 18.3 points per game shooting .524 from the field and .361 from beyond the arc. Bowman also leads the GNAC in blocks per game with 3.1 and leads all of Division II in rebounds per game with 16.7 as of December 20^th.

Alongside Bowman are seniors Kizzah Maltezo and Kassidy Malcolm. Maltezos 18.1 points per game and Malcolms 16.5 points per game hold the third and fourth spots in the GNAC. The 'Cats big three have helped them take down strong opponents like Division I Seattle University alongside strong in-region opponents with Stanislaus and Cal State East Bay.

COVID-19 PROTOCOL
Masks are required inside Nicholson Pavilion, regardless of vaccination status.