ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington women's basketball team (18-6, 10-5 GNAC) is set to start their first multi-weekend road trip with a showdown in Nampa, Idaho against the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks (11-12, 7-8 GNAC).
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Saturday, February 18^th
4:15 p.m. PST
Central Washington @ Northwest Nazarene
Johnson Sports Center
Nampa, Idaho
WATCH LIVE STATS
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Wildcats are coming off an impressive last home weekend of the regular season where they couldn't have sent the senior out in a better way. They first downed the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks in an 88-63 team victory with a heavy emphasis on team. All 10 eligible Wildcats that could play scored, led by Samantha Bowman with 33 points. Sunshine Huerta notched an impressive 17 points, while Asher Cai and Tori Maeda each had nine and eight points, respectively. Kiera Bush and Riley Johnson each notched six points, while Malia Smith knocked down a three-pointer, and Ashley Schow, Shaylee Coulter-Fa'amafu, and Claire Heitschmidt each snagged two points on the day.
 
Bowman led the 'Cats with 13 rebounds, while Maeda led CWU with eight assists. Schow had four of the six Wildcat blocks on the night while Bowman took away four of the 10 Wildcat steals on the night. Collectively, the Wildcats shot 47.1 percent from the floor, while connecting on 35.3 percent of their three-point attempts and going 90.9 percent at the free-throw line.
 
The Wildcats would earn their first season sweep over the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves since the 2004-2005 season in an 87-56 victory Saturday afternoon. Bowman led all scores with 33 points, while Huerta and Cai would each contribute double-figures with 19 and 11, respectively. Heitschmidt provided a big boost off the bench with nine points, while Bush and Schow each drained six points and Johnson nailed a three-pointer.
 
Bowman once again led the Wildcats with 18 rebounds and Maeda once again led the Wildcats in assists with seven. Bowman and Bush each recorded a block while five different Wildcats recorded a steal on the afternoon.
 
The Wildcats out-rebounded the Seawolves 48-28, while connecting on 50 percent of their shots, 40 percent of their three-point attempts, and going a perfect 17 for 17 from the free-throw line. It couldn't have ended the home careers any better for seniors Bowman, Bush, Maeda, and Jenna Troy.
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY
 
"This is another big game this week against a team in NNU who is playing very well. They are a well-coached team who is very good at what they do. We must prepare ourselves to play our best basketball and execute what we do well as NNU is a team who is very good at taking you away from what you do."
 
SCOUTING THE NIGHTHAWKS
 
The Nighthawks are currently on a two-game winning streak after defeating the pair of Alaska schools in Idaho, first defeating Anchorage 78-75 in an overtime thriller. They followed it up with a 79-72 victory over Fairbanks on Saturday. Earlier this season proved to be a thriller as well between NNU and CWU as the Nighthawks came from behind late in the game to force overtime with the Wildcats squeaking out the 79-77 victory.
 
The Nighthawks have three players averaging double-figures, led by Clare Eubanks with 12 points per game. Jordan Pinson and Danika Starr are each averaging 11.4 and 10.4 points per game, respectively. Eubanks and Starr are tied for most rebounds on the team with 5.7 rebounds per game. Pinson dishes out the most assists with 75 on the season, while Emma Clark has notched the most steals with 53 on the season, and Eubanks with 20 blocks leads the Nighthawks. Collectively NNU is shooting 38.8 percent from the floor, 26.1 percent from three-point land, and 74.4 percent from the free-throw line.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Wildcats will forge their way into the final regular season weekend with a pair of showdowns on the road. They first square off against the Saint Martin's Saints (8-14, 4-10 GNAC) on Thursday with a 5:15 p.m. tip-off from Lacey, Wash. They wrap up the regular season on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. tip-off in Monmouth, Ore. at Western Oregon (10-12, 4-10 GNAC).