FAIRBANKS, ALASKA – The Central Washington Wildcats (13-4, 5-3 GNAC) completed their road sweep in the last frontier with a 73-56 victory over the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (4-10, 1-6 GNAC) Saturday night. 
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY
 
"I'm very happy with our teams commitment and discipline tonight, and this week to our scout. I thought we did a great job executin gwhat we wanted on both ends of the floor. We showed growth and that is what we want. There's a lot to be happy about and some good take aways as well."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Nanooks struck first to open the game on a 4-0 score before Valerie "Sunshine" Huerta decided to score the first five points of the game for the Wildcats to take a 5-4 lead. A three by Tori Maeda with a layup by Samantha Bowman cemented the Wildcat lead at 10-6 and the 'Cats never looked back. A layup and one by Bowman pushed the Wildcat lead over double digits with 3:34 left in the quarter 19-8. An Asher Cai three and a layup by the 'Nooks ended the first quarter with CWU firmly in front 22-10. 
 
Alaska-Fairbanks struck first in the second quarter but back-to-back threes by Malia Smith and Bowman saw the Wildcat lead at 28-12 with 8:21 left in the first half. Two free-throws by Sunshine saw the Wildcat lead reach a 20 plus point lead for the first time on the night, as the 'Cats cruised into halftime up 45-22. 
 
The Nanooks started the third quarter off by cutting the Wildcat lead to 45-26, but CWU responded by pushing it back up to a 24-point lead, 50-26. Bowman's hot hand and another three by Smith saw CWUs lead up to 58-33. The Wildcats would end the third quarter up 62-35. 
 
The Nanooks tried cutting down the 'Cats lead and were able to with a quick five point run to open the fourth quarter. The Nanooks would try and go on a run, but the 'Cats would immediately respond and shut down their comeback attempt. A free-throw by Riley Johnson secured the 73-56 victory for the Wildcats. 
 
Sunshine led all scores with 27 points, while Bowman finished with another double-double of 21 points, 12 rebounds, and garnering two blocks. Cai had seven points, while Smith finished with six points, as Maeda dished out the most assists with six. 
 
The 'Cats finished the night shooting 37.3 percent from the floor, 25.7 percent from the three-point line, and 72.7 percent from the free-throw line. The Wildcats outrebounded the Nanooks 47-42. 
 
UP NEXT
 
The Wildcats will head back home to square off with the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks (8-7, 4-3 GNAC) in the Wildcats first game back to the CWU campus in Nicholson Pavilion. The Nighthawks come to town for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off on Saturday January 21^st.