ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University women's basketball team advanced to the second round of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon after lockdown defensive in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Sunny Huerta and Capri Sims each finished with a game-high 17 points.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 

• Final: Central Washington (65), Simon Fraser (51)
• Records: CWU (19-11), SFU (17-14)
• Location: Nicholson Arena, Ellensburg, Wash.

 
QUOTING HEAD COACH RANDI RICHARDSON-THORNLEY:
 
"We have so much respect for Simon Fraser, and they've been playing at an extremely high level. Sophia Wisotzki, what she's been able to do recently after they lost one of the conference's top players in Jessica Wisotzki has been phenomenal. I think our team knew that it was going to take an outstanding effort for 40 minutes, and a big key for us was to try and limit Sophia as well as making sure that we were defending them from three because once Simon gets rolling from three, they're really a hard team to beat. I was pleased with our team's consistency in sticking to the game plan and being able to adjust within our game plan to not go away from it, and weather the storms. We didn't know what kind of game it would be, and what we wanted to do was to make sure that we were making the most of our opportunities and stretching that lead when we had it. We got into a little bit of foul trouble early on, and we weathered that storm, they started hitting some 15-foot jump shots which is tough, and we weathered that storm and were able to adjust in the third quarter. I think it came down to us being consistent and sticking to our game plan of making sure that we were limiting certain things and not getting distracted by others."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• Sims started the game off immediately converting a layup to put the 'Cats up 2-0 but the Red Leafs would respond at the nine-minute mark to make it a tied game.
• Both teams exchanged buckets before a pair of free-throws and a jumper by SFU made it an 8-4 Red Leaf lead with 5:28 left in the first quarter.
• The Wildcats would go on an eight-point run capped by a three-pointer from Annalee Coronado to take the 12-8 advantage with 3:13 left in the quarter.
• Both teams continued to exchange buckets with the Red Leafs capping off the quarter with a buzzer-beating three to make it 17-15 CWU at the end of one.
• The Red Leafs would open the second quarter with a bucket to tie it up sparking a 12-0 run by the Wildcats to make it 29-17 CWU with 6:05 left in the quarter.
• SFU diced down the Wildcat lead to four before Asher Cai drilled a three to make it 34-27 CWU with 2:16 left in the quarter.
• A pair of buckets from the Red Leafs and a free-throw by Coronado capped the action in the first half with the Wildcats leading 35-31.
• Sims opened the third quarter with a bang scoring the first six points to simultaneously give the 'Cats the 10-point advantage, 41-31 with eight minutes left.
• Simon Fraser would respond with an eight-point run of their own before a pair of free-throws by Shelby Blodgett made it a 43-39 crimson and black lead with 3:56 left in the third.
• Both teams exchanged buckets before two buckets by Sims and a bucket by Huerta made it 52-43 CWU with 27 seconds left in the quarter.
• A buzzer-beating jumper by Huerta made it a 54-46 Wildcat lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
• The Wildcats held SFU scoreless until the 2:40 mark of the fourth quarter and in the meantime built up a 15-point lead, 63-48.
• The Red Leafs would get the final three points of the game, but the Wildcats cruised to the 65-51 victory to advance to the second round of the GNAC Tournament.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Huerta finished with 17 points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
• Sims also finished with 17 points while adding nine rebounds.
• Coronado added 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one block.
• Cai tacked on 10 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
• Blodgett added four points, a game-high 12 rebounds, and three assists.
• Keira Marsh tallied six points, two rebounds, and two assists.
• Aliyah Finch added two rebounds.
• The Wildcats finished the game shooting 41.7 percent from the floor, 40 percent on three-point attempts, and 69.2 percent at the free-throw line.
• The Wildcats held Simon Fraser to shooting 36.1 percent from the floor, 8.3 percent on three-point attempts, and 46.2 percent at the free-throw line.
• SFU edged out Central in the rebounding battle 40-39.

 
SERIES HISTORY:
 

• Since 2011 the Wildcats and Red Leafs have each won 16 games.
• The Wildcats are now 5-9 against SFU in Nicholson Arena.
• Central is on a five-game win-streak over Simon Fraser now.

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats will now move onto the second round of the GNAC Tournament and face top-seeded Montana State Billings (25-5) at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, March 8 inside Nicholson Arena.