ELLENSBURG, Wash.—As the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament draws near, Central Washington (18-7 overall, 11-5 GNAC) is set to host Montana State Billings (16-9, 10-3) and Seattle Pacific (11-15, 7-9) to end their regular season.
 
Thursday's game with Montana State Billings will be broadcast live on SWX. (Chapter/Spectrum CH. 183)
 
GAME INFORMATION
Thursday, February 24^th
5:15 p.m.
Vs. Montana State Billings
 
Saturday, February 26^th
4:00 p.m.
Vs. Seattle Pacific
 
QUOTABLE
"This is just another big week in the conference schedule," said Central Washington Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley. "MSUB and SPU are both great programs. They will look to challenge us in different ways and we need to come out ready to be at our best in order to finish the year strong."
 
SCOUTING THE YELLOWJACKETS
Montana State Billings kicks off their final conference road trip with a stop in Ellensburg. The Yellowjackets are riding a four-game win streak, most recently topping Seattle Pacific 56-53 on the road last Saturday.
 
"MSUB will provide challenges to us on both sides of the ball. They have a great inside presence with their two bigs and then have the ability to hurt you from deep from a lot of positions," said Richardson-Thornley.
 
Taryn Shelley, a 6-3 senior forward, led the charge against the Falcons scoring 21 points alongside nine rebounds, one block, and one assist. Shelley leads the Yellowjackets roster averaging 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.  
 
Taryn and the Yellowjackets are averaging 66.5 points as a unit, shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and 29.7 percent from the three-point line. MSUB also leads the conference in free-throw percentage, shooting 75.4 percent.
 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Seattle Pacific will head over to Northwest Nazarene on Thursday after defeating Western Oregon in overtime 61-59 Monday night. Prior to Thursday's game, SPU is just 1-3 in their last four conference games.
 
"SPU has a ton of talent and can lock you down for all forty minutes," said Richardson-Thornley.
 
Natalie Hoff, the Falcons offensive leader averaging 11.1 points and 6.8 rebound per game, posted a quiet 10 points alongside Bayley Brennan and Beth Pettingill in SPU's win over the Wolves.
 
SPU has not seen the Wildcats since Dec. 2^nd, when they defeated Central 69-65 in Seattle. The win snapped a five-game win streak against SPU for the Wildcats, who are looking to even the score on the season.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats lie in wait with a chip on their shoulder after a tough 89-81 loss at home to Alaska Anchorage Monday night.
 
In Monday's loss Central led by as many as 15 points but were unable to keep pace with the Seawolves deep bench late in the game.
 
Central remains the conference leader in offensive scoring with a 73.8-point average. The Wildcats big three: Kassidy Malcolm, Kizzah Maltezo, and Samantha Bowman, continue to remain three of the conference's top five offensive leaders.
 
Malcolm (18.8) and Maltezo (18.8) remain tied for first and second, while Bowman (16.5) sits fifth. Bowman, however, continues to lead the nation in rebounding grabbing 15.6 boards per game.
 
As the Wildcats currently sit second in the conference with the new points-rating system, this week's games will have huge implications for seeding in the conference tournament next week.