CARSON, Calif. – The 24th-ranked Central Washington University Women's Basketball Team suffered their first defeat of the season at the 9th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros Wednesday afternoon. Three Wildcats finished in double-figures led by Asher Cai with 18 points, followed closely behind by Malia Smith with 17 and Sunny Huerta with 16. In the setback Huerta set the CWU career made three-point field goal record. 
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP: 
 

• Final: #24 Central Washington (73), #9 Cal State Dominguez Hills (85)
• Records: CWU (7-1, 1-0 GNAC), CSUDH (11-0, 3-0 CCAA)
• Location: Torodome, Carson, Calif. 

 
QUOTING CWU HEAD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH RANDI RICHARDSON: 
 
"It's hard to win when you give up 17 offensive rebounds and turnover the ball 33 times. We had our chances, even with those costly mistakes. There is a lot that got exposed in us today. I hope that this game helps us respond correctly and make a shift in how we operate moving forward."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: 
 

• CSUDH earned the first bucket of the game on a layup by Hosanna Walker, and a minute and a half later Huerta put CWU on the board with a three to put the 'Cats up 3-2 with 7:42 left in the first. 
• The teams battled back-and-forth, but back-to-back possessions that put the Toros at the line and a layup by Joe'l Benoit saw DH take the 12-7 lead with 4:16 left in the first. 
• A layup by Cai and a three from Smith saw the Toro lead cut to two, 14-12, but DH responded with a bucket and a three of their own to take the 19-12 lead. 
• Cai maneuvered her way to the bucket to make it 19-14 Cal State Dominguez Hills to end the first quarter. 
• The Toros opened the second quarter with a three that was answered by Huerta with a three of her own to break the CWU career three-point record sparking an 8-0 run by Huerta herself that tied the game. Smith a minute later gave CWU the lead with a three of her own, 25-22 with 6:32 left.
• A six-point run by CSUDH saw the Toros take the 30-28 lead with 3:54 left. 
• The teams battled back and forth the rest of the quarter as DH took the 34-33 lead heading into halftime. 
• The teams picked up where they left off going back-and-forth as Dominguez Hills would take the small lead that'd get immediately responded to by the 'Cats to tie it. 
• Back-to-back three-pointers by Nala Williams of the Toros made it a 53-48 lead with 2:50 left in the third. 
• Turnovers by the 'Cats to end the third quarter cost them as the Toros took the 62-54 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. 
• DH started the final quarter taking their first double-digit lead that was countered with four quick points from CWU on a free throw by Cai and a three from Huerta.
• The 'Cats kept it going with buckets from Keira Marsh and Capri Sims cutting the Toro lead to four, 66-62.
• Dominguez Hills stiffened up their defense and went on a 9-0 run to take the 75-62 lead with 3:38 left.
• The 'Cats battled but couldn't overcome some end of the game turnovers ad the Toros won 85-73.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Cai finished with 18 points, adding four rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
• Smith added 17 points and one rebound off the bench.
• Huerta tacked on 16 points, four rebounds, one block, one steal, and a team-high five assists.
• Annalee Coronado added seven points to go with one rebound, three assists, and one steal. 
• Marsh had six points, two rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal. 
• Sims finished with four points, one assists, one steal and a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks. 
• Shelby Blodgett had three points, two rebounds, and two steals while Jordy DeMott had two points and four rebounds. 
• The Wildcats shot 46 percent on field goal attempts, 40.7 percent from three, and 84.2 percent at the free-throw line. 
• Dominguez Hills outrebounded CWU 34-31. 

 
SERIES HISTORY:
 

• The Wildcats are now 0-3 all-time against CSUDH.
• CWU is 0-2 inside the Torodome. 

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats will be back in action tomorrow night as they head over to Cal State Los Angeles (6-1, 2-1 CCAA) for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off inside University Gym. CWU wraps up their Southern California trip with a clash on Saturday at Biola (1-10, 1-3 PacWest) at 2:30 p.m. inside Chase Gymnasium in La Mirada, Calif.