ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington Wildcats women's basketball team (8-1) will face another pair of non-conference opponents in the Whitman Blues (6-3) and the Walla Walla Wolves (1-5). Both matchups will be played on the campus of Yakima Valley Community College down in Yakima, Wash. 
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Saturday, December 17^th
2:00 p.m.
Central Washington vs. Whitman
Yakima Valley Community College
Yakima, Wash.

Monday, December 19^th
5:00 p.m.
Central Washington vs. Walla Walla
Yakima Valley Community College
Yakima, Wash.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Wildcats only were able to play in one of two scheduled games last week as their matchup against Lincoln was unfortunate cancelled due to weather related complications. However, the 'Cats used their opportunity against the Northwest Eagles to finetune themselves in time for the bulk of conference play. The crimson and black cruised to the 93-48 victory over the Eagles last Saturday. 
 
The Wildcats saw a major boost from everyone off the bench in the victory as everyone from the bench scored at least three points. Highlighting the night was Samantha Bowman's eighth double-double on the season swishing 30 points and 12 rebounds, going 14 of 19 from the field. The 'Cats also saw double-digit performances from Ashley Schow (14), Asher Cai (11), and Valerie Huerta "Sunshine" (11). Tori Maeda dished out a career-high 10 assists in the win. 
 
The 'Cats finished shooting 51.9 percent from the field while shooting 34.5 percent from the three-point line. 
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY
 
"I'm happy to get another two games before the break against two strong opponents. We want to continue our race to improve and get better at the necessary things to help us compete in conference. For each game we have a couple personal focuses in which we need to see improvement in. I'm excited for our ladies to hit the floor, compete, and see intention to be better at those focuses."
 
SCOUTING THE BLUES
 
The Blues were ranked 17^th in the nation in the NCAA division three WBCA poll before a 60-55 setback to NAIA member Eastern Oregon last week. They're currently on a two-game losing streak losing their prior game 78-63 to conference rival Puget Sound. Prior to these past two games the Blues started on a solid 6-1 start to their season 
 
Korin Baker has been the go-to scorer for the Lady Blues as she has put up 13 points per game so far this season. The pair of Sydney Abbott and Elena McHargue aren't far behind each averaging 12.1 points per game, respectively. Baker also leads the Blues on the boards collecting 10 rebounds per game. Abbott has also been the biggest help with scoring as she has sent out 41 assists to lead Whitman. McHargue has the most steals with 19 while Lindsay Drango leads the block category with seven. 
 
Collectively the Blues are shooting 38.3 percent from the field, 33 percent from the three-point line, and 68.8 percent from the free-throw line. They have also averaged 41.1 rebounds per game, and have combined for 152 assists, 93 steals, and 27 blocks. 
 
SCOUTING THE WOLVES
 
The Wolves have struggled so far to start the season going 1-5 with their sole win coming over division three member Linfield 65-44 at home. They have two more matchups before they square off against CWU. They're on the road at Bushnell and Corban in their final conference matchups before the holiday break. In their most recent matchups were two road losses at The Evergreen State (48-53) and Northwest (43-51). 
 
The Wolves have been led by Chariah Daniels who has averaged 18.5 points per game while Jaliyah Casem hasn't been far behind averaging 17.8 points per game. Daniels is also the leading rebounder averaging 12.5 rebounds per game. Clara Campos has been the leading assister with 3.5 per game, while Daniels has been the leading stealer with 3.3 per game while also tying with Casem with 0.3 blocks per game. 
 
Collectively, the Wolves are shooting 38.7 percent from the field while draining 27.5 percent of their three-pointers and shooting 65.7 percent from the free-throw line. 
 
LOOKING AHEAD
 
The Wildcats will take a small break before diving back into their GNAC schedule. The 'Cats will start with some stiff competition on the road at the Montana State-Billings Yellow Jackets (10-1) on Thursday December 29^th at 6:30 p.m. The Yellow Jackets just entered the top-25 poll with the Wildcats this week but climbed a little higher than CWU to 21^st. They follow up that matchup with a road matchup against rival the Seattle Pacific Falcons (6-3) on Saturday December 31^st at 2:00 p.m.