ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington women's basketball team (11-2, 3-1 GNAC) will look to avenge their first conference loss on the season and the reason they exited the NCAA tournament last year this upcoming weekend. CWU will have two more home away from home games this time at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Wash. The 24^th-ranked Wildcats will square off in a top-25 showdown against 6^th-ranked rival, the Western Washington Vikings (9-1, 3-0 GNAC) Thursday evening with a 5:15 p.m. tip-off. The only Canadian NCAA team will then come to Moses Lake on Saturday when the Simon Fraser Red Leafs (3-4, 1-2 GNAC) square off with CWU with a 4:00 p.m. tip-off. Kids in eighth grade and under will have free admission to both games this weekend.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Thursday, January 5^th
5:15 p.m.
#24 Central Washington vs. #6 Western Washington
Big Bend Community College
Moses Lake, Wash.
Live Stats Tickets
Free tickets for children in 8^th grade and under
 
Saturday, January 7^th
4:00 p.m.
#24 Central Washington vs. Simon Fraser
Big Bend Community College
Moses Lake, Wash.
Live Stats Tickets
Free tickets for children in 8^th grade and under
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Wildcats started off the weekend strong with a 70-44 victory over receiving votes in the national poll Montana State-Billings on the road. Following a tightly contested first quarter, the Wildcats pulled away in the second quarter by a 29-5 margin to give the 'Cats a comfortable lead. CWU was able to cruise from there to the victory.
 
Valerie Huerta "Sunshine" led all scores with 18 points, followed by Asher Cai with 16, and Samantha Bowman notched another double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Ashley Schow added nine points while Claire Heitschmidt contributed six points and 11 rebounds off the bench. The 'Cats shot 50 percent from the floor and 34.6 percent from three-point tries while holding the Yellow Jackets of MSUB to 22.5 percent shooting from the floor and 10 percent shooting from their three-point tries.
 
Saturday's contest proved to be a bit more challenging for the Wildcats as even the best teams in the country can play well but run into and can't stop a red-hot player or team, which is exactly what CWU ran into at Seattle Pacific. Ashley Alter drained 31 points for SPU as the Falcons edged the Wildcats 70-63 in a tightly contested battle the entire game.
 
Bowman led the Wildcats adding another double-double to her total on the season with a 20-point 16-rebound afternoon. Sunshine added on 16 points while Cai added 14 points. Both Sunshine and Tori Maeda led the game with five assists, while Schow added on two blocks, and Maeda snatched two steals. The Wildcats shot 42.9 percent from the floor while draining 32.1 percent of their three-point attempts, while in comparison the Falcons shot 41.2 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three-point attempts.
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY
 
"I'm excited for another week to compete against two very good opponents. Western has proven themselves to be one of the best teams in the country. They are very sound and effective all lover the court. Their depth in every position and their ability to play together is very impressive. Simon Fraser is a very good team who can put up a ton of points. Our styles are similar which makes for an exciting matchup. We better come prepared to play our best basketball this week in order to compete."
 
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
 
The Vikings are amid a stellar start to a season, picking up right where they left off last year as national runners-up. After starting the year with a 58-59 setback to at the time 21^st ranked Azusa Pacific, the Vikings have rattled off nine straight wins, including at the time 12^th ranked Cal State-San Marcos, perennial NCAA tournament participant Hawaii Pacific, and most recently demolishing at the time 25^th ranked Alaska-Anchorage.
 
The Vikings are a very balanced team on both sides of the ball as they only have on player averaging more than 10 points per game, Brooke Walling (14 points per game.) However, they have eight other players averaging more than five points per game. The Vikings have been led by Walling (9.8 per game) and Truitt Reilly (8.6 per game) in the rebounding category. There are four different Vikings with over 20 assists on the season, led by Walling with 37. Walling and Reilly also lead the steal category with 12 and 11 each, respectively, while Walling and Avery Dykstra lead the blocks with 18 and 10, respectively. Collectively the Vikings are shooting 47.1 percent from the floor, and 37.2 percent from three-point attempts, as well as 73.9 percent from the free-throw line.
 
SCOUTING THE RED LEAFS
 
The Red Leafs have had a slow start to the season only playing seven games thus far. They did start out their season with back-to-back wins in Hawaii over Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific but have struggled since going 1-4 in that span. In their most recent games against the Alaska schools they settled for a split at home, first defeating Fairbanks 89-78 before falling to at the time 25^th ranked Anchorage by a 69-86 score.
 
The Red Leafs have some big-time scorers, led by Jessica Wisotzki who is averaging 24.1 points per game. Gemma Cutler and Grace Killins are each averaging double-figures in 14.6 points per game and 10.4 points per game, respectively. Cutler has been a menace defensively for SFU averaging 9.7 rebounds per game and accumulating 22 blocks. Makenna Gardner has 11 steals to lead SFU. Collectively, the Red Leafs are shooting 44.3 percent from the field, a GNAC best 38.9 percent from three-point attempts, and 68.5 percent from the free-throw line.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
 
The Wildcats will have another test following their showdown with WWU and SFU as they travel to Alaska to square off with UAA and UAF. The Wildcats will take on the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves (10-3, 2-2 GNAC) on Thursday January 12^th with an 8:30 p.m. pacific time tip-off at the Alaska Airlines Center. The Wildcats will wrap up their trip to the last frontier with a showdown against the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (3-8, 0-4 GNAC) on Saturday January 14^th with a 4:00 p.m. pacific time tip-off at the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium.