ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington Wildcats women's basketball team (8-1) defeated the Northwest University Eagles (3-4) Saturday night by a score of 93-48 at Ellensburg High School. 
 
QUOTE FROM ASSISTANT (FOR THIS GAME HEAD) COACH JESSICA RICHARDSON
 
"Tonight, we moved the ball really well! We had 30 assists on 40 field goals which is awesome! I would like to highlight Tori – she had 10 assists and no turnovers. We got a lot of good looks in transition and that was awesome to see our team run hard to get some opportunities in transition. We still have a lot to learn, and our defense isn't where it needs to be but I think we took some good steps forward. Overall, I am happy where we are at and excited to see how we handle the challenges of next week." 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The game saw the Wildcats sprint out to a quick 8-0 lead highlighted by two layups by Ashley Schow. The Eagles got on the board at the 7:19 mark on a jumper by Kyrin Baklund. That possession followed by the next one from the Eagles proved to be the closes CWU would allow the Eagles other than to start the game at 0-0. The first quarter saw a big three from Riley Johnson to put the 'Cats up w25-6 with 2:50 left in the quarter, and a layup by Kiera Bush to end the quarter and put CWU up 29-10. 
 
A jumper by Valerie Huerta "Sunshine" followed by back-to-back layups from Schow and Samantha Bowman put the 'Cats up 35-10 to start the second quarter. The 'Cats would see a lot of action from Claire Heitschmidt who would prove to be pivotal off the bench for CWU. Two layups by Schow within 40 seconds of each other put the 'Cats up 51-21 going into halftime. 
 
Bowman came out of the half knocking down buckets as she does making the first four Wildcat baskets of the second half. Asher Cai was steady from the three-point line as she traded three-pointers with Bowman and followed it up with her own layup to put CWU up 69-34. A bomb from Malia Smith put the crimson and black up 73-34 shortly before a three by the Eagles to go into the fourth quarter, 73-37 CWU. 
 
CWU scored the first six points of the fourth quarter, highlighted by another swish from Smith. Huerta and Bush would tag team back-to-back scores following back-to-back turnovers by the Eagles. Shaylee Coulter-Fa'amafu and Johnson would round out the scoring for the 'Cats with back-to-back treys.
 
Bowman led all scores with 30 points and 12 rebounds to make her double-double total on the season to eight. Schow offered up 14 points, while Cai and Sunshine each added their own respectable 11 points. While not scoring any points Tori Maeda proved to be a cornerstone of the offense tonight as she dished out a career-high 10 assists. Smith, Johnson, Heitschmidt, and Bush all shoved out six points, while Coulter-Fa'amafu finished with three. Heitschmidt and Bush each added nine and eight rebounds, respectively. 
 
CWU finished shooting 51.9 percent from the floor while going 34.5 percent from the three-point line. The crimson and black held the Eagles to 23.3 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from the three-point line. 
 
UP NEXT
 
The Wildcats will stay at home when they host the Whitman Blues (6-3) on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Yakima, Wash. on the campus of Yakima Valley Community College. The Walla Walla Wolves will also come to town shortly after, on Monday December 19^th. The game will be held at YVCC again in a double-header with the men's team, as the women are scheduled to tip-off at 5:00 p.m.