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Central Washington University Athletics

Teem
Jeff Evans, WWU Athletic Communications
75
Central Wash. CentWA 12-5,3-2 Great Northwest
100
Winner Western Wash. WWU 11-3,3-1 Great Northwest
Central Wash. CentWA
12-5,3-2 Great Northwest
75
Final
100
Western Wash. WWU
11-3,3-1 Great Northwest
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Central Wash. CentWA 7 28 15 25 75
Western Wash. WWU 15 20 34 31 100

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Wildcats Fall to Nationally Ranked Vikings on the Road

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Central Washington University women's basketball team fell to 21st-nationally ranked Western Washington on the road Thursday evening. Annalee Coronado found her scoring stride pacing CWU with 15 points. 
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 
  • Final: Central Washington (75), Western Washington (100)
  • Records: CWU (12-5, 3-2 GNAC), WWU (11-3, 3-1 GNAC)
  • Location: WECU Court at Carver Gym, Bellingham, Wash. 
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY:
 
"I'm proud of our team's effort tonight. We were able to execute well in the first half with what we wanted. However, WWU came out and adjusted in the second half and hurt us from deep. Credit goes to them. We had a lot of learnings to take from this to help our growth. Now it's onto the recovery battle for another battle on Saturday." 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
  • The first score of the game came almost two and a half minutes into the game when Western snuck a layup in for the 2-0 lead. 
  • WWU had one more layup before Asher Cai put the crimson and black on the board draining three free throws to make it 4-3 WWU. 
  • The Vikings tacked on eight more before Coronado got her first points of the night with a pair of free throws to make it 12-5 WWU with 2:34 left in the first quarter. 
  • The Vikings nailed a three, but Capri Sims finished the first quarter with a jumper to make it 15-7 WWU to end the first quarter. 
  • Sims scored the first bucket of the second quarter to cut the Viking lead to 15-9. 
  • The Vikings made a free throw but back-to-back threes by Sunny Huerta and Riley Johnson followed by a layup from Keira Marsh gave the Wildcats their first lead of the night, 17-16 with 6:56 left in the second quarter.
  • Both teams would battle it out with the Vikings maintaining a small lead until a free throw by Coronado followed by a three from Malia Smith gave the 'Cats the lead back, 34-33 with 1:37 left in the second quarter. 
  • The Vikings would get a bucket and Huerta would get a free throw to enter halftime knotted up at 35 apiece. 
  • WWU came out of the locker room steaming, opening the third quarter on a 14-2 run, draining four threes in the process, and taking the 49-37 lead with 6:52 left in the third quarter. 
  • Both teams continued to battle with Sims getting a layup to go, but the Vikings responded with a 9-0 run to make it a 66-46 WWU lead. 
  • A pair of free throws by Coronado ended the third quarter with WWU leading 69-50. 
  • The Vikings struck first in the fourth quarter but was immediately responded by Johnson with another three to make it 71-53 WWU. 
  • WWU used a 10-2 run to increase their lead to 92-62 with 4:56 left in the game. 
  • A layup from Aliyah Finch and a pair of free throws from Marsh ended the game with the Vikings winning 100-75. 
 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 
  • Coronado led the Wildcats with 15 points while adding four rebounds and three assists. 
  • Sims finished with 13 points and as the leading rebounder for CWU with seven while also having one assist and one steal. 
  • Johnson and Smith were the leaders off the bench contributing 12 and 11 points, respectively with Johnson adding one rebound and Smith adding one steal. 
  • Huerta added eight points and six rebounds while leading CWU with seven assists and three steals.
  • Asher Cai finished with seven points while having one rebound and one steal. 
  • Marsh also finished with seven points while grabbing two rebounds and two steals. 
  • Finch tacked on two points and two rebounds as well as the only Wildcat block of the night. 
  • Shelby Blodgett and Rylee Leishman each had a rebound for CWU. 
  • The Wildcats finished shooting 36.9 percent from the floor, 50 percent from three, and 69.2 percent at the free throw line. 
  • WWU finished the night shooting 59.1 percent from the floor, 50 percent from three, and 80 percent at the free throw line. 
  • The Vikings won the rebound battle 42 to 26. 
 
SERIES HISTORY:
 
  • This was the 48th meeting between the two squads since 2003. 
  • WWU leads the series 39-9 and is on a four-game winning streak. 
  • The Wildcats hold a 4-18 record in Bellingham. 
 
UP NEXT:
 
  • CWU will head to Simon Fraser (9-8, 1-3 GNAC) for an international battle on Saturday with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. from inside the West Gym in Burnaby, B.C. 
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