ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington women's Basketball team (10-3) concludes the 2023 portion of their schedule with one last nonconference battle at home against the Westminster Griffins (2-7).
GAME INFORMATION
Saturday, December 30
12:00 p.m.
Central Washington vs. Westminster (UT)
Nicholson Arena
Ellensburg, Wash.
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QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY
"We're excited to be back and have another opportunity to compete prior to conference season. Westminster is a good team who will challenge us in some very good ways, and I'm excited to see how we respond."
LAST OUTING
The Wildcats had two nonconference matchups before entering the holiday break, first winning the battle of the Wildcats over Linfield 68-57 before defeating Evergreen State 83-55.
Against Linfield,
Sunny Huerta led CWU with 24 points while also tying with
Capri Sims for the most assists for the crimson and black on the night with three. Sims added 16 points while
Asher Cai tacked on 15 with both tying for the most rebounds for CWU with nine on the night.
Annalee Coronado added nine points while tying Sims for the most steals for CWU on the night with three.
Cai and Sims each recorded double-doubles against Evergreen State with Cai recording 21 points and 14 rebounds and Sims notching 11 points and 12 rebounds. Huerta also drained 15 points in the contest. Cai and
Tori Maeda led the 'Cats with five assists in the game while Cai and Huerta each had two steals in the game with Cai also recording the sole Wildcat block.
SCOUTING THE GRIFFINS
Westminster has started their season with a 2-7 record. They fell in exhibition play to BYU by a 92-48 score before traveling to Arkansas for a pair of games at Arkansas-Fort Smith in which they were swept by scores of 78-47 and 55-36. They nabbed their first wins of the season over fellow GNAC member Alaska Fairbanks in their home opener defeating the Nanooks 64-57 and 74-69 in back-to-back days. The Griffins went back into exhibition play, falling to NCAA Division I member Utah Valley by a 76-42 decision. The Griffins have had a rough start to conference play, falling to Colorado School of Mines 69-60, Regis 76-59, and Colorado-Colorado Springs 75-51. They made one more stop in exhibition play, falling to NCAA Division I member Weber State 61-46 before wrapping up their pre-holiday break schedule with a 58-52 setback at Fort Lewis. The Griffins meet Seattle Pacific in Seattle Friday afternoon before heading over to Ellensburg.
The Griffins have been led by Teuila Nawahine who is the only player averaging double-figures with 12.6 points per game. Maunayia Harrigfeld currently leads the Griffins in rebounds with 9.7 per game and is tied with Elizabeth Means for steals with 17 on the season. Lime Okada is the leader for Westminster in assists with 29 while Means leads the Griffins in blocks with 11.
WU is shooting 38.1 percent on their field goal attempts, 26.8 percent on their three-point attempts, and 66.7 percent at the free throw line. The Griffins are outrebounding their opponents 37.4 per game to their opponents 33.8 per game.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats dive back into conference play welcoming 21st-nationally ranked Montana State Billings (11-3, 2-0 GNAC) on Thursday, January 4 at 5:15 p.m. to Nicholson Arena. Seattle Pacific (4-7, 2-0 GNAC) will make an appearance on Saturday, January 6 with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m.
