BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Central Washington women's basketball team took care of business to sweep their participation in the 2023 Lynda Goodrich Classic, hosted by Western Washington University, with a 73-59 victory over the Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons Saturday afternoon. Sunny Huerta kept up her hot streak flaming 30-points in the contest. 
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 

• Final: Central Washington (73), Minnesota State Moorhead (59)
• Records: CWU (6-3), MSUM (0-5)
• Location: WECU Court at Carver Gym, Bellingham, Wash. 

 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY
 
"I'm pleased with the pace and effort we played with tonight. MSU Moorhead posed some great challenges for us and I felt like our team did a great job taking those challenges on. Being outsized and winning the rebounding battle shows competitive growth which I'm very pleased about."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• The Dragons got on the board first with a pair of free throws to put MSUM up 2-0 45 seconds into the game. 
• Both teams would trade buckets before the Dragons drained a three-pointer to take the 7-2 lead with 7:27 left in the first quarter. 
• A pair of free throws by Huerta gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 10-9 with 3:51 left in the first quarter. 
• Both teams battled before a three-pointer by Malia Smith, followed by a fastbreak layup from Keira Marsh saw the Wildcats take the 18-13 lead with 18 seconds left in the first quarter. 
• The Dragons would respond with a last second three to make it 18-16 to end the first quarter. 
• MSUM opened the second quarter tying the game up with a bucket but was immediately responded to by Huerta with a three-pointer to make it 21-18 with 8:34 left in the second quarter. 
• A three-pointer by Asher Cai followed by a jumper from Huerta put CWU up seven, 28-21. 
• Both teams continued to exchange buckets before a three-pointer by MSUM was responded to by Cai with a three of her own to end the first half with CWU up 39-30. 
• The Wildcats picked up where they left off with Huerta draining a three-pointer to give the Wildcats their first double-digit lead of the game, 42-30. 
• CWU went into the media timeout with a nice 4-0 lead to make it 50-34 with five minutes left in the third quarter. 
• The Wildcats continued their dominance after the media timeout with a 7-2 run to make it 57-36 in favor of CWU with 2:23 left in the third quarter. 
• Both teams exchanged buckets capped by a layup from Shelby Blodgett to make it 61-40 to end the third quarter. 
• Huerta immediately opened the fourth quarter with a bucket to make it 63-40 with 9:47 left in the game. 
• Both teams continued to battle until back-to-back three-pointers by the Dragons made it a 69-55 game in favor of CWU with 4:01 left in the game. 
• Capri Sims would stop the Dragons run and score the final four points of the game for CWU as the Wildcats went on for the 73-59 victory. 

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Huerta led all scores once again with 30 points which she paired with one rebound, two assists, and two steals. 
• Cai was the sole other Wildcats in double-figures with 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two steals. 
• Sims finished the game with eight points, nine rebounds, one block, and one steal. 
• Blodgett came off the bench and contributed six points, three rebounds, and one assist while Annalee Coronado added four points, five rebounds, and one assist.
• Smith tacked on three points while Tori Maeda had two points, two rebounds, three assists, and one steal. 
• Marsh added two points, two rebounds, two assists, and one steal while Aliyah Finch had three rebounds and Rylee Leishman had one rebound. 
• The Wildcats finished the night shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, 27.3 percent from three-point land, and went nine for nine at the free throw line. 
• The Dragons finished 38.7 percent from the floor, 30.4 percent from three-point range, and four for four from the free throw line. 
• The Wildcats outrebounded the Dragons 38-34. 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:

• Huerta and Cai were named to the All-Tournament team after their performances over the weekend.
• Huerta finished the weekend averaging 33.5 points per game, four assists per game, and shot 56.8 percent from the floor.
• Cai finished the weekend averaging 19.5 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game, and shot 63.6 percent from three-point range. 
• Both Wildcats were joined by four Vikings from hosting WWU as members of the All-Tournament team. 

 
SERIES HISTORY:
 

• This was the second-ever time the two squads matched up with CWU coming out on top both times now. 
• The first matchup was in Seattle back on Nov. 18, 2005 with CWU winning 82-73. 

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats open up Great Northwest Athletic Conference action with a pair of road matches, first at Western Oregon (3-4) on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. from the New PE Building. 
• CWU wraps up their GNAC-opening weekend in Lacey, Wash. at Saint Martin's (2-4) at 3:00 p.m. from inside Marcus Pavilion.