ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Women's Basketball Team (8-2, 1-0 GNAC) will be back in The 'Burg to open the 2025 portion of their season as they dive back into GNAC play hosting the Alaska schools. 
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Thursday, January 2
7:00 p.m.
RV Central Washington vs. Alaska Fairbanks
Nicholson Arena
Ellensburg, Wash. 
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Saturday, January 4
4:00 p.m.
RV Central Washington vs. RV Alaska Anchorage
Nicholson Arena
Ellensburg, Wash. 
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QUOTING CWU HEAD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH RANDI RICHARDSON

"It's great to be back from break and jump right into conference. UAF is a team who can shoot the three at a really high rate hitting nine a game. They play hard, and will challenge us in some ways we haven't been yet this year.

UAA is a team that is very talented, they play extremely hard on both ends and have the ability to turn teams over at an extremely high rate forcing 30 turnovers a game on their opponents.

Our prep this week is critical as we come out of break into conference with two great challenges."


LAST OUTINGS
 
The Wildcats traveled to Southern California over the holiday break going 1-2, falling first at 9th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills 85-73, then falling the next day at RV Cal State Los Angeles 71-68, but rebounded to wrap up their time in SoCal with an 88-52 victory over Biola. 
 
The Wildcats maintained pace with the Toros for most of the game, but a late push by DH helped them secure the victory. The Wildcats saw double figures from Asher Cai (18), Malia Smith (17), and Sunny Huerta (16). CWU finished the game shooting 46 percent from the floor, 40.7 percent on three-point attempts, and 84.2 percent at the free-throw line. Dominguez Hills slightly outrebounded the 'Cats 34-31. 
 
After a slow start, the Wildcats took the halftime lead, but LA outscored the 'Cats 35-31 in the second half to steal the game from CWU. Huerta led all scores in the game with 28 points while Cai added 14 points of her own, respectively. The 'Cats finished the game shooting 41.8 percent from the floor, 22.7 percent from three, and 63 percent at the free-throw line. CWU edged out LA 32-31 in the rebounding battle. 
 
CWU bounced back in a big way to wrap up their road trip as the 'Cats dominated Biola from start to finish. Five different Wildcats finished in double-digits led by Cai with 18 points. Capri Sims had a season-high with 13 points while Huerta (12), Annalee Coronado (10), and Riley Johnson (10) all added double-figures. CWU shot 50 percent from the floor, 45.5 percent from three, and 77.8 percent at the free-throw line and outrebounded BU 36-34. 
 
LAST MEETINGS
 
The last time CWU faced the Alaska schools was back on February 15 and 17, 2024 when the crimson and black became the first GNAC school to sweep the Alaska roadtrip of the 23-24 season to earn the GNAC Team of the Week with Sims earning the GNAC Player of the Week. 
 
First at UAF, the Wildcats coasted to a 78-61 victory after strong offense in the first half and stiff defense in the second half. Huerta and Sims finished with 22 and 20 points, respectively with Cai not far behind with 18. Cai and Sims had double-doubles with 15 and 13 rebounds while Huerta and Coronado each had seven assists. The 'Cats shot 46.8 percent from the floor, 31.4 percent from three, and 60 percent at the free-throw line. 
 
At UAA, the Wildcats withheld a late Seawolf comeback to take the 72-65 victory to earn their second-straight victory in Anchorage. Cai led all scores in the game with 23 points while Huerta and Sims added 19 and 14, respectively. Sims had another double-double adding 12 rebounds while Huerta led CWU with six assists. The 'Cats finished the game shooting 53.2 percent from the floor, 42.1 percent from three, and 73.7 percent at the free-throw line. 
 
SCOUTING THE NANOOKS
 
UAF is 5-5 on the season and 0-2 in GNAC games. The Nanooks earned a pair of victories over Cal Poly Humboldt and Jessup to open their campaign. They suffered their first defeat hosting Western Colorado in the first game of the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational but rebounded for a victory over Corban in their second game. UAF went 2-1 in Hawaii sweeping Chaminade in back-to-back games but fell to Hawaii Pacific. In their GNAC-opening weekend, they fell to Western Oregon and St. Martin's at home before most recently losing at Cal State East Bay over the holiday break. 
 
Currently the 'Nooks are averaging 72.1 points per game, compared to the 71.1 points they're giving up per game. UAF is shooting 38.6 percent from the floor, 31.1 percent on three-point attempts, and 62.9 percent at the free-throw line. They're getting outrebounded by their opponents 44.7 to 38 per game. The Nanooks are averaging 14.7 assists per game, 16.6 turnovers per game, 11.1 steals per game, and 2.4 blocks per game. 
 
Destiny Reimers and Kayla Johnson have led UAF this season with 12.9 and 11.5 points per game, respectively. Bobbi Clark leads the Nanooks with seven rebounds per game while Taylor Pilot has dished out the most assists and accounted for the most steals with 32 assists and 35 steals on the season so far. Amelia Brady leads the 'Nooks with six blocks. 
 
SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES 
 
UAA is currently 10-2 on the season and has gone 2-0 in GNAC play. The Seawolves swept a weekend series against Simpson to open the season, starting the Seawolves' tear to open the season as they followed that up with a pair of wins against Jessup and Cal Poly Humboldt before suffering their first defeat of the season in a two-point setback at Point Loma. They bounced back to take down Stanton and Biola on the road before falling in overtime against NCAA Division I Troy but fought back for third place in the ASRC/Conoco Phillips Great Alaska Shootout with a victory over NCAA Division I Vermont. The Seawolves had another weekend sweep, this time defeating South Dakota Mines twice before taking down St. Martin's and Western Oregon for a GNAC-opening weekend sweep. Over the holiday break they suffered a three-point loss at Hawaii Pacific but bounced back to win by over 30 against Daemen. 
 
The Seawolves are averaging 85.3 points per game compared to the 42.8 points per game they're giving up to their opponents. As a whole UAA is shooting 44.5 percent from the floor, 35.5 percent from three, and 68.6 percent at the charity stripe. They're one of the more dominant rebounding teams, earning 45.4 rebounds per game compared to their opponents 28 per game. They are creating 18.6 assists per game and have stuck with their "mayhem" method causing 29.5 turnovers per game with 20.2 of them coming as steals while the Seawolves are committing just 12.7 turnovers per game. They are adding 4.2 blocks per game. 
 
UAA is a very balanced team with four different Seawolves averaging double digit points per game: Elaina Mack (14.9), Emilia Long (13.2), Tori Hollingshead (12.1), and Jazz Evans (12.1). Ashlyn Rean and Hollingshead lead UAA with 6.1 rebounds per game while Long has the most assists and steals at 57 and 64, respectively. Hedda Koehne has been a machine with 22 blocks on the season already. 
 
UP NEXT
 
The Wildcats will have their first GNAC roadtrip of the season as they head north of the border for a Thursday, January 9 battle at Simon Fraser at 7:00 p.m. from inside the West Gym. They wrap up the weekend with a rivalry game at Western Washington on Saturday, January 11 at 7:00 p.m.