ELLENSBURG, Wash.— Central Washington is slated to open their 2021-22 postseason with a third matchup against Simon Fraser in the quarter finals of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament. The rematch is scheduled for Thursday, Mar. 3^rd, at Brougham Pavilion on the campus of Seattle Pacific.
 
Tip-off is scheduled for noon.
 
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"SFU is a great team who has been playing very well of late," Central Washington Head Coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "They have a great ability to hurt you from the three as well as will challenge us with their length defensively and on the boards. We cannot make many mistakes against this well-coached team who has one of the best players in the league on their roster. We have to learn from our previous two meetings and make sure we are ready to defend this high-powered offense."
 
PREPARING FOR SIMON FRASER
The Wildcats (20-7 overall, 13-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) and Simon Fraser (12-13, 8-8) have squared off twice thus far this season. Both matchups have resulted in wins for the Wildcats, 72-60 & 92-69. CWU is riding a four-game winning streak over SFU that dates back to Feb. 13, 2020.
 
As a unit Simon Fraser is averaging 72.1 points per game, the third highest scoring offense in the GNAC. As a team SFU is shooting .401 from the floor, .307 from the three-point line, and .697 at the free-throw line.
 
Jessica Wisotwzki and Jessica Jones headline the Simon Fraser offense averaging 16.8 and 16.4 points per game respectively. Wisotwzki is averaging 3.69 rebounds per game with 15 steals and eight blocks. Jones on the other hand leads SFU with 5.4 Rebounds per game, and has 51 assists, 29 steals, and two blocks.
 
STRONG REGULAR SEASON FINISH
Central Washington closed out their regular season with back-to-back wins at home against Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific. Kizzah Maltezo hit a buzzer beating trey with 1.6 on the clock to lift the Wildcats into overtime before defeating the Yellowjackets 81-77, and Samantha Bowman scored 15 points in route to CWU's win over the Falcons.
 
As a team the Wildcats are averaging a conference leading 73.7 points per game while shooting .434 from the floor, .341 from the three-point line and .751 at the free-throw line.
 
Kizzah Maltezo continues to lead both Central Washington and the conference in scoring with an 18.9 points per game average. Maltezo also leads the Wildcats with 42 steals and is second with 79 assists.
 
Kassidy Malcolm, recently named GNAC Player of the Year, trails Maltezo averaging 18.3 points per game. Malcolm also grabs an average of 6.7 rebounds per game and leads the Wildcats at the free-throw line with a .860 shooting percentage.
 
Samantha Bowman is the final piece of Central's big three. The Wildcat center and nation's rebounding leader averages 15.4 boards per game. Add in her scoring average of 16.3 points per game, and you get the nation's second place leader in double-doubles with 21 this season.
 
Should Central defeat Simon Fraser they would move on to the semifinals and face off against either Alaska Anchorage, or the winners of Alaska Fairbanks and Seattle Pacific against Anchorage. The semifinals would take place Friday, Mar. 5^th, at Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martin's in Lacey, Washington. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.