ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University women's basketball fell in a nail-biting regular-season finale to the visiting Saints of Saint Martin's Thursday evening. Sunny Huerta led the Wildcats with 18 points. Asher Cai reached 1,000 career points in the loss.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 

• Final: Central Washington (47), Saint Martin's (49)
• Records: CWU (18-11, 9-8 GNAC), SMU (7-17, 5-12 GNAC)
• Location: Nicholson Arena, Ellensburg, Wash.

 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY:
 
"Give Saint Martin's the credit. They took us out of rhythm offensively, and our team went away from the things that have helped us win all year. Saint Martin's made critical plays down the stretch, and we didn't. The only thing this can be positive is a wake-up call heading into the tournament."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• Shelby Blodgett converted the fastbreak layup to score the first points of the game with Capri Sims converting a layup and Huerta adding two free-throws to see the Wildcats take the 6-0 lead with 6:41 left in the first quarter.
• The Saints would respond with back-to-back buckets to make it 6-4 Wildcats.
• A 10-0 run to end the first quarter put the Wildcats up 19-6.
• The Wildcats increased their lead to 15 after Asher Cai made a pair of free-throws to open the second quarter with CWU leading 21-6.
• The Saints chipped away with a 7-0 run to make it 21-13 CWU with 3:38 left in the second quarter.
• Both teams exchanged a pair of buckets to go into halftime with Central leading 26-17.
• Sims opened the third quarter with a bucket to put the Wildcats back up by double-digits, 28-17.
• The Saints inched their way down to a seven-point deficit before a pair of free throws by Huerta and another layup by Blodgett made it 32-21 Wildcats with 3:58 left in the third quarter.
• A jumper by St. Martin's would end the third quarter with the Wildcats leading 39-36.
• A jumper by Cai to open the fourth quarter pushed the Wildcat lead back up to eight, 41-33.
• An eight-point run by the Saints tied the game up at 41 apiece with 3:59 left in the game.
• A pair of free throws by Huerta and a jumper by Cai to score her 1,000th career point made it a 45-41 CWU lead with 2:52 left in the game.
• The Saints would score the next six straight to take the 47-45 lead with 23 seconds left.
• A pair of free throws by Huerta would tie the game with 19 seconds remaining but a buzzer-beating layup by the Saints would clinch the 49-47 victory for SMU.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Huerta finished with a game-high 18 points while adding six rebounds, three assists, one block, and three steals.
• Cai added nine points, seven rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
• Sims tacked on eight points, nine rebounds, three blocks, and one steal.
• Blodgett and Malia Smith each added six points with Blodgett also finishing with four rebounds, two assists, and one steal and Smith adding one rebound and one steal.
• Annalee Coronado finished with four rebounds and two assists.
• Rylee Leishman added two rebounds and one steal while Keira Marsh had one steal.
• The Wildcats finished the night shooting 30 percent from the floor, 20 percent from three-point land, and 86.7 percent at the free-throw line.
• The Saints finished the night shooting 30.5 percent from the floor, 13.3 percent from three, and 91.7 percent at the free-throw line.
• The Saints edged out the Wildcats in the rebound battle 39-38.

 
SERIES HISTORY:
 

• This was the 42nd meeting between CWU and SMU since 2003 with CWU holding the 23-19 advantage.
• The Saints broke the Wildcat's 14-game win streak.  
• The Wildcats are now 11-10 against the Saints in Ellensburg.

 
UP NEXT:
 

• Due to the cancelation of the remainder of Western Oregon's women's basketball season on February 16, the Wildcats will now look towards the GNAC Tournament where they'll play host.
• The GNAC Tournament comes to Nicholson Arena from Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 9.
• You can purchase your tickets "here", your CWU season pass does not get you into the tournament.