BURNABY, B.C., Canada- The Central Washington University women's basketball team finished the road trip off in style earning a hard-fought win over Simon Fraser across the border. Asher Cai was the leading scorer in the game with 26 points. 
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 

• Final: Central Washington (77), Simon Fraser (65)
• Records: CWU (13-5, 4-2 GNAC), SFU (9-9, 1-4 GNAC)
• Location: West Gym, Burnaby, B.C., Canada

 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY:
 
"I'm proud of how our team responded tonight against a very good SFU team. We came out and defended them well and found our rhythm offensively to pull out to an early lead in which we were able to sustain. Riley Johnson did a terrific job defending Jessica Wisotzki and making things tough for her all night. We did what we needed to do to get the split, and now it's back to the recovery battle for another big week at home next week."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• The Red Leafs struck first at the 8:41 mark of the first quarter taking the 2-0 lead which was immediately responded by Cai with her first points of the game nailing a jumper to tie it up. 
• SFU would score their final points of the first quarter on their next possession to take the 4-2 lead that was once again answered by Cai with another jumper to tie it up at four apiece with 8:10 left in the first quarter. 
• The Wildcats would use stellar defense and some outstanding shooting to finish the quarter on a 15-0 run that was capped off by a Sunny Huerta layup to beat the buzzer and put the 'Cats up 17-4 at the end of the first. 
• SFU ended their scoring drought, nabbing the first bucket of the second quarter at the 8:47 mark to make it 17-6 CWU. 
• Both teams battled as anytime the Red Leafs scored the Wildcats would answer using a 5-0 run to make it 29-10 CWU heading into the media timeout with 5:16 left in the second quarter. 
• The Wildcats and Red Leafs continued battling it out, but a 5-0 run by SFU to end the second quarter saw the crimson and black lead cut to 14 to enter halftime, 36-22. 
• CWU struck first in the third quarter after Huerta drained a pair of free throws which started another bucket-for-bucket battle between the two teams. 
• Threes from Cai and Tori Maeda as well as a free throw by Cai put the Wildcats up 48-28 with 5:02 left in the third quarter. 
• The battle continued following the media timeout for the rest of the quarter as the Wildcats maintained a 62-43 lead at the end of three. 
• Huerta grabbed the first points of the fourth quarter, but an 8-2 run by the Red Leafs found the Wildcat lead diced back to 15, 66-51 with 6:25 left in the game. 
• A 5-0 run by SFU made it 68-56 CWU with 4:59 left in the game before Cai answered with another layup to stop the Red Leafs momentum. 
• The teams continued their bucket-for-bucket battle as the Wildcats stepped up and responded to anything the Red Leafs threw at them and got back in the win column with the 77-65 victory. 

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Cai finished with a game-high 26 points and paired it with eight rebounds, five assist, one block, and three steals. 
• Huerta blazed 14 points and finished with six rebounds, two assists, and one steal. 
• Annalee Coronado also finished in double-figures with 11 points and had two assists and a steal. 
• Maeda and Shelby Blodgett each finished with eight points while Maeda added two rebounds and an assist and Blodgett contributed two rebounds and two assists. 
• Malia Smith finished with six points while having one rebound and one assist. 
• Capri Sims added two points, seven rebounds, and a steal while Aliyah Finch also added two points, one rebound, and one block. 
• Riley Johnson finished the game with one asst and two steals while Keira Marsh added two rebounds. 
• The Wildcats finished shooting 45.8 percent from the floor, 38.1 percent on three-point attempts, and 75 percent at the free-throw line. 
• SFU was held to 40.6 percent shooting on their field goals, 20 percent shooting from three, and 91.7 percent at the free throw line. 
• The Wildcats edged out the win in the rebound battle 38 to 33. 

 
SERIES HISTORY:
 

• This was the 30^th meeting between the two squads since 2011. 
• SFU currently holds a slight edge in the series 16-14. 
• The Wildcats are 7-6 against SFU in Canada but SFU leads conference games 16-11. 

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats will welcome the Alaska schools for another action-packed series at home next week. 
• CWU will first have a date with the Seawolves of Alaska Anchorage (9-5, 3-2 GNAC) at 7:00 p.m. Thursday night before welcoming the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks (2-13, 0-5 GNAC) for a Saturday afternoon showdown at 4:00 p.m. with both games happening inside Nicholson Arena.