BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Central Washington women's basketball team fell on the road at ninth ranked Western Washington by a 78-60 score with
Asher Cai leading the Wildcats in scoring with 19 points as well as grabbing four rebounds and one block.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
- Final: Central Washington 60, Western Washington 78
- Records: CWU (16-6, 8-5 GNAC), WWU (18-2, 12-1 GNAC)
- Location: WECU Court at Carver Gym | Bellingham, Wash.
QUOTABLE:
"Tonight, we were out matched in a lot of ways, but I'm proud of the toughness our ladies showed to not give and continue to compete," head coach
Randi Richardson-Thornley said. "Western is an extremely good basketball team, and Carver is a tough place to play. We can take a lot from tonight that we can move forward with that will make us better for next week but also for the future of this group."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Wildcats and Vikings kept it close, at one point a 7-6 margin in favor of the 'Vikes, however the Vikings would go on a 12-0 run to increase their lead, 19-6.
- The Wildcats couldn't stop the hot shooting of the Vikings, down 11-27 at the end of the first quarter with WWU shooting almost 70 percent from the floor.
- The second quarter was a lot closer as the Wildcats were able to outscore the Vikings 14-13 to bring the Viking lead at halftime to 25-40.
- The Wildcats couldn't find any offensive rhythm to open the second half as the Vikings would outscore CWU 21-9 to essentially seal the deal.
- The Wildcats would outscore the Vikings 26-17 in the final quarter as Asher Cai would drop 12 points the final quarter.
STATS FROM THE GAME:
- Four different Wildcats scored double-figures, led by Cai with 19 points.
- Sunshine Huerta dropped 11, while Samantha Bowman and Ashley Schow each contributed 10 points.
- Bowman led the Wildcats with nine rebounds, and two blocks.
- Sunshine led the Wildcats with two out of the six steals on the night.
- The 'Cats finished the night shooting 34.4 percent from the floor, 20 percent from three point range, and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- This was the 47th meeting between the two squads since 2003 with the Vikings dominating the series 38-9 and currently on a three-game winning streak.
UP NEXT:
- The Wildcats will return to the Nicholson Pavilion one last time this season when they play host to the Alaska schools. CWU will first host the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks on Thursday night with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off time. The Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves will appear on Saturday afternoon with a 4:00 p.m. tip-off and the celebration of senior day to recognize the four Wildcat seniors.
WILDCAT SOCIALS:
- Twitter - @CWU_WBB
- Instagram - @CWUWomensBBall
- Facebook - CWUAthletics
