FAIRBANKS, Alaska.— Kassidy Malcolm scored a career-high 30 points as Central Washington (15-4, 8-2 GNAC) defeated Alaska Fairbanks (2-14, 1-8 GNAC) 80-67 in another Great Northwest Athletic Conference game.
 
Thursday's win elevates the Wildcats into second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings behind conference rival No. 9 Western Washington (13-1, 5-1 GNAC).
 
The win extendeds the Wildcats win streak to 10, the longest streak of Central's Division II era.
 
"Our defense struggled in the first half and credit Fairbanks as they exposed some weaknesses of ours," said Central Washington Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley. "I'm happy with the adjustments we were able to make in the second half and that was the difference in the game for us."
 
Malcolm was on fire to open the game, scoring 19 of the Wildcats 25 first quarter points. Malcolm finished the game with seven rebounds, two steals, and five assists.
 
"Kassidy had an outstanding game and was such a solid presence for us tonight," said Richardson-Thornley.
 
After getting off to a slow start, Samantha Bowman found her stride late in the fourth quarter finishing the game with 22 points and 19 rebounds. The mark gives Bowman her 14^th double-double of the season thus far.
 
"Sam had another great night and was that presence on the boards we needed, especially in the second half," said Richardson-Thornley.
 
After a strong opening quarter, CWU's offense came to crawl late in the second, scoring only three points in the final four and half minutes closing out the first half 43-40 in favor of Central.
 
Central relied heavily on the starting five, only scoring two points off of the bench compared to the Nanooks 27.
 
Bowman closed out the game with back-to-back layups and the Wildcats beat the Nanooks, 80-67.
 
The Wildcats head next door to Anchorage, Alaska, where they'll take on the Seawolves Saturday, February 5^th, at 6:15 p.m. PST.