ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington women's basketball team (14-4, 6-3 GNAC) opened Nicholson Pavilion's debut of the season with a 79-77 overtime thriller Saturday afternoon over the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks (8-9, 4-5 GNAC.) Samantha Bowman was also honored pre-game for becoming the first Wildcat to achieve 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career.  
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY
 
"Happy to get the win in our first game back in Nicholson. That was a great game where both teams played very hard. Proud of the growth and resolve our team showed not to give in to mistakes but to respond positively and we had to do that all night long. NNU played a great game and we were just able to have one more play go our way tonight. Sam had an incredible performance and stepped up tonight in huge ways both as a leader and player."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Valerie Huerta "Sunshine" opened the scoring of the game nailing a jumper just 18 seconds into the game. The Nighthawks wouldn't let the glimmer of the newly remodeled Nicholson deter them from making buckets as they would be the first to reach double-digits, 10-4 with 5:09 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats would battle back and make it a 14-12 game with 2:10 left in the quarter, but NNU would take the 16-12 lead going into the second quarter.
 
The Nighthawks would maintain their slim lead to open the second quarter, but then the Riley Johnson show started as Johnson nailed a quick five points to tie the game at 21 apiece and Bowman would nail a free throw to give the 'Cats their first lead since the first bucket of the game with 6:07 left in the half. Both teams would battle, but the Wildcats forced back-to-back turnovers giving CWU the 31-24 lead forcing the Nighthawks to take a timeout with 2:01 left in the half. The Wildcats would go into the half up 35-26.
 
Sunshine gave the Wildcats their first double-digit lead of the game to open the third quarter followed by a three from Tori Maeda tied the largest lead of the night for the Wildcats 40-26 with nine minutes left in the quarter. The Nighthawks were able to cut the lead down to five, 41-36, forcing the Wildcats to take a timeout. A last second before the shot clock ran out three by Ashley Schow from halfway between the three-point line and the half court line boosted the Wildcat momentum to go on a run and make the score 51-37 with 3:44 left in the quarter. Both teams went back and forth as CWU took the 56-46 lead going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Nighthawks battled and were very determined to open the fourth quarter, as the Wildcats maintained a five-to-seven-point lead for most of the start of the quarter. The Nighthawks and their pesky defense forced the Wildcats into several turnovers which allowed them to cut the lead to one point with 4:07 left. The Nighthawks tied the game with 25 seconds left at 71 apiece on a last second before the shot clock ran out three, and neither team could do anything with their possessions following, forcing overtime.
 
The Nighthawks struck first in overtime, but Asher Cai responded with a floater to tie the game. Cai went one of two from the free-throw line, but the Wildcats forced a turnover and Sunshine nailed a jumper to give the Wildcats their first lead in overtime with 2:29 left, 78-77. A Maeda free-throw and stellar defense sealed the deal for the Wildcats, and a Nicholson Pavilion opening victory.
 
Bowman led the charge for the Wildcats finishing with 32 points, 22 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal. Cai was the lone other double-figures scorer with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals. Maeda dished out a team-high six assists while providing two steals and six points, as Schow provided six more points, two blocks, and a steal. Claire Heitschmidt provided six points off the bench as well as a block and two steals. Johnson finished with five points and a steal and Malia Smith knocked down three points in five minutes of action.
 
The Wildcats finished shooting 43.8 percent from the floor, 29.2 percent from three-point tries, and 64 percent from the free-throw line.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Wildcats prepare for a set of tough home games back in the pav next weekend. They host the Seattle Pacific Falcons (11-6, 6-3 GNAC) on Thursday night in a revenge game as the Wildcats dropped a game to the Falcons in Seattle earlier this season. Tip-off time is set for 5:15 p.m. on Thursday January 26^th. The Wildcats will wrap up their three-game home stand with another tough test against the Montana State-Billings Yellow Jackets (15-5, 6-3 GNAC) on Saturday January 28^th with a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.